The Thing About Second Chances
by Kaorei
Summary: When Marinette enters a contest as a joke, she didn't expect to actually win. Now, she has to spend all summer with Paris' top model, Adrien Agreste. However, upon meeting him, she discovers that he still isn't over his ex-girlfriend. She decides to help him get her back—but that's not so easily done when she finds herself falling in love with him. ― Adrien/Marinette
1. Winner

"I don't see what's so great about him."

Marinette is leaning over the counter of her parents' bakery, chatting on the phone with her best friend, Alya Cesaire. It's a slow day at work, and her parents are out on their twenty-seventh wedding anniversary, leaving her all by herself. Instead of dying of boredom, she decided to call up her normally busy friend, who just so happened to have a day off from work.

"Adrien Agreste?" Alya asks with a laugh. "Marinette, you're probably the _only_ girl in all of Paris who doesn't fall at his feet."

"The only thing I like about him is his clothes," Marinette says, flipping through the magazine laid out on the counter before her. "Good job on the latest fashion collection, by the way."

"Thank you!" Alya exclaims on the other side of the phone. "You know, no one believed me when I said that he'd look _great_ in black and green. Nice to know I proved them wrong."

Alya Cesaire is the stylist for the model Adrien Agreste, and an Internet-famous blogger. She and Alya went to fashion school together, and Alya was truly gifted when it came to styling. Her confidence was a plus as well, and after graduation, she was offered a spot by Gabriel Agreste himself, who was thoroughly impressed by her portfolio.

Marinette feels jealousy bubble inside of her whenever she speaks to her best friend—Alya was just born _lucky_. She got the life Marinette had been dreaming of since she was five. Instead of working in a famous fashion company, Marinette found herself handing out resume after resume without receiving any calls. She spends most of her time helping her parents out at the bakery, and she doesn't mind it too much because she does love her parents after all, but deep down… she knows she wants so much more.

"But you know, Adrien's actually a really nice person," Alya defends. "I work with him. He's very polite, kind, and thoughtful."

"His childhood friend is Chloe Bourgeois. He dated Ice Queen Kagami Tsurugi," Marinette says flatly. "That's enough to tell me that his personality must be just like theirs—snobby, mean, and fake."

"You can't decide a person's personality based on who they associate themselves with," Alya says. "I'm friends with you. Does that automatically make me clumsy? Definitely not."

"Ha, ha. You're hilarious," Marinette says with a roll of her eyes.

"Just give him a chance, Marinette," Alya says. "If one day you _do_ land a job at Agreste Fashion, you're going to be working with him every day, so you shouldn't judge him before actually getting to know him."

While Alya tries to reason with her over the phone, Marinette flips through her magazine, stopping when she reads the words _Spend 100 Days with Adrien Agreste!_

"Spend one hundred days with Adrien Agreste?" Marinette asks, accidentally cutting Alya off. "Is this a contest?"

"Huh? Oh, that," Alya says. "One lucky girl or guy in France will get to spend one hundred days with Adrien Agreste. They'll accompany him in photoshoots, travelling, parties, and all that. You just have to sign up online and—I think in about three days from now—a name will be randomly drawn, and it'll be announced on live television. They'll be staying with Adrien in this sick penthouse, and—"

"Well, I feel bad for the poor sucker who has to go through that," Marinette interrupts with a bored tone. "Why are they holding this kind of contest anyway?"

"It's business. It'll make him look good."

"There you go—he's _fake_. I rest my case."

"It wasn't his idea," she sighs. And then she lights up. "Hey, wait! Why don't _you_ sign up? Maybe winning this could show you that he's nothing like Chloe or Kagami."

"Alya, even if I did sign up, I wouldn't win," Marinette says, scanning the page.

"Then it shouldn't be a problem," Alya says, and Marinette could _hear_ the grin in her voice.

"Not going to lie, the penthouse, free food and new wardrobe sounds pretty tempting. But if I'd have to spend almost every hour of my day with Adrien Agreste, then forget it," Marinette scoffs. "I don't see why I should waste my time signing up if it's not going to lead to anywhere."

"You know, you _could_ win," Alya says.

"Impossible," Marinette laughs, fanning the air with a hand. "There are thousands of people signing up for this, I'm sure. There's no point."

"Oh, yeah? Prove it to me then," Alya bets. "Show me that you aren't so lucky. Humor me."

Marinette looks down at the page, and shrugs. She's bored, and this wouldn't make a difference in her life, so she might as well just do it for fun.

"Alright then," Marinette says, putting Alya on speaker so that she could continue talking to her while she goes on the contest's sign up page on her phone. "I've got nothing to lose, after all."

* * *

.

.

.

**the thing about second chances**

_chapter one_

**winner**

.

.

.

* * *

Three days pass by in a blur, and Marinette is in her room, talking to Alya while live-streaming Gabriel Agreste's summer fashion show on her computer. The winner of the _Spend 100 Days with Adrien Agreste_ winner would be announced at the end of the show, and Marinette thought that she'd at least watch that part with Alya to prove her best friend wrong. When Alya finished styling the models for the show, she decided to call Marinette to hear her friend's constructive criticism.

"Look at all the people in the crowd," Marinette rolls her eyes. "They're not even there for the show. They just want to know who they're going to be hunting down tonight."

"Watch it be you," Alya laughs. "Then again, you're never this lucky. I overheard Nino talking to Adrien about the number of sign-ups, and there are over _a million_ people signed up for this competition."

"Why am I not surprised?" Marinette says flatly as she watches the current model catwalk down the runway in awe. "Oh, I like this one."

"Which one is it?" Alya asks.

"It's the ocean blue to white gradient, short in the front and long in the back, halter dress—I _love_ the design," Marinette gushes. "Too bad it's on Chloe Bourgeois. I hate to say it matches so well with her eyes."

"Sad to agree with you," Alya sighs. "What's up next?"

"We're heading into the business casual looks now," Marinette says. "We've got Wayhem Marot in a black tie, burgundy dress shirt rolled up to the elbows, black pants, black dress shoes, and black bowler hat. I _love_ it, but the hat's a bit too much."

"Thank you!" Alya says, and Marinette could faintly hear her scribbling her comments down.

The fashion show finally comes to an end, and Marinette and Alya watch all the girls (and some guys) scream and cry as Alec Cataldi, the host, walks to the middle of the stage with a milky white envelope in hand.

"Thank you, everyone, for attending Gabriel Agreste's summer fashion show!" Alec exclaims, followed by loud cheering. "As you all know, one lucky person will be spending one hundred days with Paris' top model, Adrien Agreste!"

"You rolled your eyes," Alya says.

"You know me too well," Marinette laughs.

"Not only will they be staying at a penthouse with him their entire stay, but all their expenses will be paid! That's right—new designer clothes, free food; it's a dream come true!"

"The clothes and food sound great, not going to lie," Marinette says.

"It really does," Alya agrees.

"I have in my hands," Alec says dramatically, holding up the envelope. "The name of the person who will get all these."

The cheers in the crowd grow stronger, but they slowly die down when the lights dim. The music fades into silence, and everyone is on the edge of their seat, impatiently waiting for the host to reveal the winner.

"The lucky winner who will be spending one hundred days with Adrien Agreste is…" the host, Alec, unfolds the little piece of paper in his hands and reads it with a grin on his face. "MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!"

Marinette drops her phone.

"MARINETTE, DID HE JUST—WAS YOUR NAME—?!" Alya screams from the other side of the phone.

Marinette's mother, Sabine, flips open the trapdoor to her room with wide eyes and a look of terror in her face. "Marinette," she begins. "You might want to come downstairs."

She follows her mother down the stairs and into the bakery to find it _overflowing_ with paparazzi and news reporters. Her father, Tom, is trying to stop them from causing further damage to the bakery, but all attempts prove to be in vain. The more he fought, the harder they all fought back.

"There she is!" one of the photographers exclaims, pointing in her direction. They all practically run over Tom to get to her, and Marinette is blinded by the flashes of the camera.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, how does it feel to be the winner of the _Spend 100 Days with Adrien Agreste_ contest?"

"Are you a long-time fan of Adrien Agreste's?"

"Any girl would _die_ to be in your shoes right now. How does it feel knowing that?"

Marinette is completely over-whelmed by the camera flashes and questions thrown at her. She sees Alec's grinning face on the little television in the corner of the room, and she could faintly see that she's on live. The girls in the crowd are all sobbing hysterically, and her parents are asking her questions, adding onto the pile she has yet to answer.

Out of fear and surprise and disbelief, Marinette takes a step back, and she could feel her whole world spinning.

"Oh _no_."

* * *

**A/N:** And I'm back after a two-year hiatus! (Has it really been that long?)

This story idea has been on my mind for _two years_. I couldn't write about it because of the obvious (school and work), and I also had no idea who to cast as Adrien's ex-girlfriend. Thankfully, Kagami was introduced, and I went straight to writing! I'm really excited to share my very first original Miraculous Ladybug multi-chapter fic with all of you.

For those of you who have read my last fanfic titled _Who Needs Love?_ I've received a lot of messages asking if I'm going to be writing Season 2, and I'm excited to say that I've already started writing the first episode! Please look out for it in the near future!

Thank you for reading!


	2. Passion Fruit Macarons

**the thing about second chances**

_chapter two_

**passion fruit macarons**

"I did _not_ sign up for this."

"Actually, _you did_."

Marinette finishes packing the rest of her luggage, and looks up at her phone, which comfortably rests on top of her desk. She's video-chatting with Alya, who's busily putting outfits together to hang on the racks behind her.

"This is partially your fault, you know," Marinette huffs, zipping up her luggage.

"Hey, you didn't _have_ to do it," Alya says. "Not my fault you're easy to convince."

"I can't believe this…" Marinette groans, pushing her fourth luggage to the side. "One hundred days is going to feel like an _eternity_."

"One hundred days doesn't sound bad at all, it's only a little over three months," Alya reasons. "Plus, we'll get to see each other almost every day!"

"I'm happy about that," Marinette smiles, but then sighs. "But only that. Do I really have to live under the same roof as him? And why do I have to pack? It's not like I'm leaving the country. I could just run back home if I forgot anything."

"Yes, you do have to live with him because it's part of the contract," Alya answers. "And you're famous now! Do you really want people following you home? And with Adrien's schedule so packed, it'll be hard for you to find time to head home anyway."

"Isn't that kind of… dangerous?" Marinette asks, slumping into the chair by her desk. "You know, letting some complete stranger stay with Adrien? What if they try something funny?"

"Well, _that_ is why Adrien studied self-defense, fencing and martial arts for years. And lawsuits are a thing," Alya says. "But real talk—I overheard Adrien talking over the phone with Gabriel Agreste and turns out, the penthouse has a wall in the middle."

"A wall?" Marinette asks incredulously.

"There's apparently a wall separating the penthouse, so it's kind of like you're both just neighbors. There's a door in the middle of the wall, but here's the catch—when you open the door, there's _another_ door," Alya explains. "Meaning, you two can only be in the same room if you allow each other access. You can open the door, but the only way for you to get into Adrien's room is if he opens the door on _his_ side."

"That's crazy security right there," Marinette says in amazement. "Which is actually a pretty smart move, to be honest."

"This is Gabriel Agreste's _only_ son. Did you _really_ think he'd let him stay in the same room as some random stranger?" Alya asks with a chuckle.

"The contest made it sound like it, all right?" Marinette laughs.

"And that penthouse is originally for parties. But since this is just for a contest, they had it remodelled so you both get your own kitchen, bathroom, and whatnot."

"Makes sense," Marinette says. Then, she sighs, "Well, I should probably get going. A limo should be here any second now."

"I'll see you in a bit!" Alya exclaims excitedly.

"I won't be long," Marinette says, and with that, she hangs up.

With a sigh, Marinette gets up from her seat and starts dragging her luggage down the stairs. Her father eventually comes along to help her out, and before she knows it, Marinette is by the entrance of her parents' bakery, waiting for her ride to arrive.

"Stay safe, Marinette," her mother, Sabine, says as she gives her a hug. "No one's forcing you to stay _all_ one hundred days. If you feel uncomfortable in any way, you can just leave. Or call the police."

"Your mother's right," her father, Tom, says. "And let him know that if he hurts you, I'll—!"

"_I_ wouldn't appreciate you going to jail, Tom," Sabine says, eyeing her husband, who just laughs nervously.

"I'll be all right," Marinette reassures them for the seventeenth time. "Really. I promise to call if something feels even the slightest bit off. And besides, I'm sure I can handle things on my own!"

"Oh, before we forget," Sabine says, running behind the bakery's counter to pick up a white and pink polka-dotted box. She walks back to her daughter and opens the box to reveal two rows of macarons; the top row is pastel green, and the bottom row is light pink. "These are to share with any new friends you make."

"Friends?" Marinette asks, taking the box and closing it tightly.

"Connections," Tom clears up. "Agreste Fashion is your goal, isn't it? Try to make yourself stand out and remembered."

"Oh, _I_ see," Marinette grins. "What flavors are they? Pistachio and…?"

"Passion fruit," Sabine answers. "It's a new flavor we're trying out. Let us know if they like it?"

"No problem!" Marinette exclaims with a nod.

Through the window of the shop, she sees a black limo pull up in front of the bakery, and she sighs. Her driver, an old man, walks out of the vehicle and walks into the shop to greet the winner.

"Hello, Marinette. My name is Fu," he introduces. "I am your driver for today."

"Hello, Mr. Fu," Marinette says. She turns to her parents and gives them both one last hug. "I'll be back before you know it."

Tom picks up two out of four of his daughter's luggage and walks out to put them in the trunk of the limo. Sabine and Marinette each take one of the remaining two, despite Mr. Fu's insistence to help carry one. Marinette shuts the trunk door after throwing her last bag inside, and walks over to her driver, who's holding the back door open for her to enter.

"I'll see you soon," Marinette smiles up at her parents. "I'll be sure to call when I can."

After she enters the limo, Mr. Fu closes the door and walks back to the driver's seat. Marinette rolls the window down to wave goodbye to her parents one last time as the vehicle drives off. When they're no longer in sight, she rolls the window back up and sighs.

"Are you excited to meet Adrien?" Mr. Fu asks with a smile.

"Yeah… definitely…" Marinette says, laughing awkwardly.

A few minutes later, Marinette finds herself in front of the Agreste Fashion building. It's tall, it's beautiful, and she so desperately wants to work here, but all she can get for now are visits for when she accompanies Adrien Agreste to photoshoots and styling sessions.

"I will take your bags to the penthouse," Mr. Fu says. "Adrien's assistant will take you to him. His photoshoot has just ended."

"Thank you so much," Marinette says, bowing to him. She opens the box of pastries in her hands and asks, "Macaron?"

"Thank you," Mr. Fu says, gladly taking a pistachio one and taking a big bite out of it. "Delicious!"

"We always have some ready at the Dupain-Cheng Bakery!" Marinette promotes. "It was really nice to meet you, Mr. Fu."

"It was nice to meet you too, Marinette," Mr. Fu says, getting back into the driver's seat. Marinette waves goodbye as the old man drives off before turning around to head into the building.

The doors open up automatically, and Marinette takes a step back before she could get run over by a stylist rushing through the building while pushing a rack full of designer clothing. The building is bustling with employees, some on their phones talking to fashion designers, others carrying loads of branded items. Marinette carefully makes her way through the sea of people, finally making it to the front desk, where a short-haired blonde around her age types away at her computer. "Rose" is written on her nametag, and she's dressed in designer clothes, and a lot of pink.

"Um, hello?" Marinette begins, making the Rose girl look up. "I'm… here for Adrien Agreste?"

"Of course, you're the winner of the contest!" Rose exclaims. "Marie?"

"Mari_nette_, actually—"

"Right!" Rose says, picking up the phone. "Hold on one second!"

Before he could say anything else, Rose makes a phone call and says into the phone, "Marinette's here. That's right. Pigtails. A lot of pink. Thank you!" She then looks up at Marinette and says, "Adrien's assistant should be here in a second. You can stand by; it really won't take long."

"Thank you," Marinette says, and awkwardly turns around to watch the employees go on with their day.

About five minutes later, a boy with dark brown hair and glasses walks up to her. He greets her with a friendly smile, and she notices that he's holding a badge with her name on it.

"Marinette, I'm assuming?" he asks, holding his hand out for her.

"That's me," she replies, shaking his hand. "You are…?"

"I'm Nino," he says. "I'm Adrien's assistant; it's really nice to meet you. He just finished up his photoshoot. He's changing right now, but we can wait for him at the studio."

"Sounds good!" Marinette says excitedly. She's always wanted to see the photo studio in person; she's only ever seen glimpses of it in her video calls with Alya.

"This is your badge," Nino says, handing it to her. He chuckles as Marinette looks down at it with absolute wonder. "This gives you access to the entire building. All you have to do is scan it by the gates, and they'll open right up for you."

She and Nino make their way over to the gates, and when Marinette places her badge over the scanner, the gates open up, welcoming her in. She catches up to Nino at the elevators, and the two of them enter once it finally comes down. The assistant presses the button to the fifteenth floor, and as the doors shut in front of them, Nino starts up a conversation.

"Excited to meet him?" Nino asks as the elevator rises.

"Yeah, I really am… me, excited…" Marinette says in the most unconvincing way possible.

Nino takes a glance at her, and then he starts laughing loudly. Not knowing how to react, Marinette just stands awkwardly still, confusion written all over her face.

"Sorry," Nino says when his laughing dies down. "It's just—I heard everything from Alya. I know you didn't really want to win. And I know about you trying to sell your spot on the Internet."

"Apparently it was against the rules, so here I am," Marinette groans. "I can't believe I'm going to be stuck here all summer."

"What's so bad about this place?" Nino asks in confusion. "Alya said you _loved_ Agreste Fashion."

"Oh, no! I didn't mean _here_ here—just being in this building, at this moment, is a childhood dream come true—what I _meant_ is that it's pretty upsetting that I'm not here to work, but instead to accompany a celebrity," Marinette says.

"Why?" Nino asks, laughing. "You get new designer clothes, you get to stay at this luxurious penthouse, and you get to eat expensive food—all for _free_."

"Well, the hate messages, rumors and zero privacy come for free too, and I don't want that either," Marinette groans. "And let's just say I would've preferred being roommates with Alya…"

"Adrien's a nice person," Nino tells her, sincerity leaking in his voice. "Just give him a chance."

"You sound just like Alya," Marinette says. "She says the exact same thing."

"Well, if he has this many people defending him," Nino says as the elevator stops. "Didn't you think that _maybe_ it's because he's someone _worth_ defending?"

The elevator doors open up the moment Nino finishes his sentence, and Marinette watches in awe once more as the employees go on with their daily responsibilities. The next pair of models, Aurore Beaureal and Mireille Caquet, walk into the studio wearing outfits she _knows_ Alya put together. The two models are led to a set that's meant to make them look like they're standing in front of a pink ice cream shop. There's a mint green bicycle leaning against the wall, a mini yellow bench, and a baby blue-framed window. It's cute, it's refreshing, and it practically _screams_ summer.

"I'll go get Adrien. Feel free to look around, but try not to cause a scene or break anything," Nino says.

"I'm guessing Alya also told you about my clumsiness?" Marinette asks with a laugh.

"It's the first thing she told me," he cackles, slowly walking away to go get Adrien Agreste.

"Wait—before you go," Marinette says, opening up her box of macarons. "Macaron?"

"For real? Thanks!" Nino exclaims, extending a hand to reach for a pink one. "What are the flavors?"

"The green ones are pistachio, and the pink ones are passion fruit," Marinette replies.

Upon hearing her answer, Nino's hand freezes just centimeters away from touching a passion fruit-flavored macaron, and he moves his hand to pick up a pistachio-flavored one instead. Marinette raises an eyebrow at this, but quickly dismisses it.

"Delicious!" Nino exclaims after taking a bite. "Can I get ten more?"

"Only ten?" Marinette teases.

"Sorry—ten _boxes_," Nino chuckles, finishing the rest in one bite. "I'll go get Adrien now. Stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

"Hey!" Marinette exclaims, and Nino cackles as he disappears behind a door that says _Models Only_.

Marinette takes his advice to look around, making sure to stay close to the wall so as to not trip over anything or bump into anyone.

She notices that the photographers are all holding expensive cameras, and once they're given the cue to begin the photoshoot, they immediately make ridiculous poses in order to capture the models' best angles. The rest of the camera crew are all changing the placement of the lights in order to find the _perfect_ lighting that can show off the models' flawless skin. The makeup artists make touch-ups every now and then between takes, powdering Aurore and Mireille's noses and re-applying pink lipstick on their already pink lips.

Marinette keeps her eyes on them as she walks, failing to see the cables at her feet. She trips over them, sending her box of macarons flying and accidentally letting out a squeak—thankfully not loud enough to catch anyone's attention—and she closes her eyes as she waits for the pain of hitting the floor to come—

—but it never does.

Instead, Marinette feels someone catch her, and when she opens her eyes, she sees a boy with teal hair and matching teal eyes.

"Careful," he says, and his voice is deep and smooth. He hands her the box of macarons he was able to save, and she's a bumbling mess, unable to give him a proper thank you.

Marinette just stares at him with a ridiculous look on her face because this boy is _handsome_. His teal eyes are droopy and sincere, his smile crooked yet attractive, his fashion dark but stylish. He helps her get back on her feet, while Marinette pathetically attempts to say _thank you_.

"What's your name?" he asks, and Marinette swears she feels butterflies in her stomach.

"Ma-Ma-Marinette," she stutters, her cheeks turning pink.

"Nice to meet you, Ma-Ma-Marinette," he teases, making her face grow even warmer. "You're the winner of the contest, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah! That's me," Marinette manages to say. "I'll be around for the next one hundred days."

"Well, I'll be looking forward to the next one hundred days then," he says, making her look up at him in surprise. "I'm Adrien's photographer. We'll be seeing each other quite often."

A frustrated yell interrupts Marinette and the boy, who both look over to see famous photographer Vincent criticizing every picture that's been taken so far.

"Where is he?! The boy with teal hair?!" Vincent screams in his thick Italian accent, practically alerting the entire floor. "His pictures are _always_ outstanding! I need him here, _now_!"

"Guess I have to go," the teal-haired boy tells Marinette. "It was nice meeting you, Ma-Ma-Marinette."

"B-bye," is all she could say.

He gives her one last charming smile before turning around and heading over to Vincent. Upon seeing him, Vincent hands him a camera and encourages him to go on with the photoshoot. Marinette sighs dreamily as she watches him hold the camera with care, snapping pictures of the models and giving them suggestions on how to pose every now and then.

Just as she's about to continue looking around, a familiar blonde slides up in front of her. Marinette resists the urge to roll her eyes when she realizes who it is.

Her hair is sunshine and silk, her eyes are sapphires, her skin is porcelain, but despite her beauty, almost everyone knows her soul is black.

"Chloe Bourgeois," Marinette says. She knows that this girl is going to give her trouble once she realizes that Marinette's the winner of the contest. Everyone knows how much Chloe loves Adrien.

"_The_ Chloe Bourgeois," the blonde says, flipping her ponytail. "Paris' most _beautiful_ model."

"Of course," Marinette says with slight annoyance in her tone. "How could I forget…"

"Who are _you_?" the blonde asks, popping her pink bubblegum in Marinette's face.

"_She_'s my best friend," a familiar voice says. Marinette turns around and almost screams when she sees Alya walking towards them. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"I've never heard of you," Chloe says, closing her eyes and shrugging. She then cackles, "Which must mean that you aren't someone I should care enough to know."

"Oh, you're _going to_ care," Alya says, walking over to her best friend. She throws an arm over her shoulder and says with a smirk, "_She's_ the winner of the _100 Days with Adrien Agreste_ contest."

This last sentence catches Chloe's attention, whose eyes shoot wide open. "_You're_ the one who's going to be staying with _my_ Adrien for one hundred days? Ridiculous! Utterly _ridiculous_! I don't believe this!"

"Well, you better believe it because you're going to be seeing her with Adrien pretty often," Alya smirks, putting her free hand on her hip.

"There you are, Chloe!" a redhead with wide-framed glasses exclaims, rushing over to the group. Marinette assumes that she's Chloe's assistant, and she's surprised to see that she's dressed a little less fashionably than what Marinette would expect from someone working at a fashion corporation (or from someone who has the title of Chloe Bourgeois' assistant).

"What is it now, Sabrina?!" Chloe asks rudely. The redhead cowers in fear before composing herself once more.

"You're up next," Sabrina says, pointing over at a set that looks like a sunny day at the beach.

"I'm coming," Chloe says. Before leaving, she glances over at Marinette and says, "You better not try anything on Adrien, you hear?" She turns around swiftly, making her hair sway and barely missing Marinette's face.

"She's exactly how I thought she'd be," Marinette says, rolling her eyes.

"Trust me," Alya laughs. "She's much worst." Marinette laughs, and turns to give her best friend a tight hug, who returns the gesture just as enthusiastically.

"I missed you so much!" Marinette exclaims, letting Alya go. "I'm so happy that we're going to get to see each other often!"

"Me too, I missed you tons," Alya grins.

"I brought some macarons," Marinette says, opening up her box of pastries. "The green ones are pistachio, and the peachy ones are passion fruit."

"I'll go with pistachio," Alya says almost too quickly, grabbing one and eating it in one bite.

"_Every_ person I offer a macaron to, picks the pistachio one," Marinette frowns. "_Please_ try the passion fruit one. It's a new flavor and my parents would really appreciate feedback."

"I get you, but let's just say someone out there would appreciate the passion fruit flavor a lot more…" Alya says vaguely.

"What do you mean?" Marinette asks with a raised eyebrow, closing the box.

"Nothing. So, you're waiting for Adrien, right?" Alya asks, changing the subject.

"Please don't remind me," Marinette groans, making Alya laugh.

"He should be here any second," she says with certainty. "And trust me, you're going to be shocked when you seem him. His looks are out of this world. Pictures do him no justice."

The door with the sign _Models Only_ suddenly swings open, and Marinette takes a deep breath, getting ready to meet the boy she's going to be spending ninety-two percent of her time with all summer. However, the door opens up to reveal Nino… and only Nino. Adrien's assistant walks over to the two of them, scratching the back of his head with an uneasy look on his face.

"Uh… Adrien was scheduled for a last-minute plan, so…" Nino begins. "He'll only get to meet you at the penthouse. I'm sorry; his father's assistant, Nathalie, just called."

"Are you serious?" Marinette asks in disbelief. "I mean, I don't regret coming here because I got to see Alya, but really?"

"You can start unpacking your things at the penthouse, I already called Mr. Fu," Nino says, and then he turns to Alya. "You can take the rest of the day off to help her get settled in. And I know how much catching up you both have to do."

"Sounds good to me," Alya grins, linking her arm with her best friend's.

"Sorry about all this again, Marinette," Nino apologizes. "He should arrive at the penthouse later this evening."

"It's fine," Marinette laughs. "Knowing that I can spend the rest of the day with Alya lifted my mood instantly."

Nino feels a vibration in his pocket, and quickly takes his phone out to answer the call. After a few quick words, he hangs up, and tells Marinette, "Your ride's right out front. Mr. Fu will take you to the penthouse, and the woman at the reception desk will give you the keys to your temporary home."

"Thanks, Nino. It was really nice meeting you," Marinette says.

"Likewise," Nino grins. He looks over at Alya and says, "Anything I need to know before you're gone?"

"The outfits I prepared are all hung up in the rack backstage. Aurore's hangers are blue, Mireille's are green, and Chloe's are yellow," Alya says.

"Got it," Nino says with a nod. "See you tomorrow, as always."

"See you," Alya says as she and her best friend walk to the elevator.

After Alya presses the button to the first floor, the elevator's doors close and start descending. Marinette and Alya spend the elevator ride babbling excitedly over how fun summer's going to be, since they're going to be seeing each other so often. They discuss brunch dates, days off, and everything in-between. Marinette was so looking forward to it all, but she knows that Adrien's schedule is definitely going to get in the way. However, she refused to let that get in the way of her optimism.

Upon reaching the first floor, the two make their way to the front of the building, where Mr. Fu is waiting for them by the limo. After a quick greeting, he opens the door for the two girls, and heads back to the driver's seat to take them to their destination.

The car ride isn't long; before she knows it, Marinette is standing in front of a tall, cream-colored building, staring up at it in absolute awe.

"_This_… is where I'm going to be staying?" Marinette squeaks.

"Top floor, to be precise," Alya winks, throwing an arm over her best friend's shoulders. "That's right; take it all in."

"I think I might cry."

"Go ahead. I won't judge."

"You will find your luggage in your room, along with a list of contacts in your room," Mr. Fu says as he walks over to the two girls. "Don't feel shy to call me if you ever need a ride."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Fu," Marinette says respectfully. With a nod, Mr. Fu walks back into the limo and drives off.

Marinette and Alya enter the building, and they're met with the most beautiful main lobby. The walls and high ceilings are of an immaculate white, serving as a contrast to the ebony black furniture. Two curved staircases were found on either side of the building, with black rails curling with such intricate detail, it seems impossible to recreate. Bouquets of fresh and expensive flowers are standing near the walls in colorful, detailed vases that stand out amongst the black and white. Finally, a crystal chandelier hung above them, and with the sun seeping through the large windows, its sunlight reflected with each piece.

Marinette gapes at the sight before her as Alya simply laughs as she pushes her best friend towards the reception desk, where a woman with tan skin and purple hair writes away in a big binder. She has a nametag that reads, "Penny".

"Can I help you?" Penny asks when the two girls make it to the desk.

"Yes, we have a penthouse ready for Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Alya answers for the black-haired girl who's still trying register what's going on.

Upon hearing that name, Penny grins. "_You're_ the lucky winner?" she asks.

"Define lucky…" Marinette mutters as Alya elbows her lightly.

"Here are your keys," Penny says, grabbing the key sitting in a little bin with a label on it that says, _100 Days with Adrien Agreste Winner_. She holds it up, dropping it into Marinette's hand when she extends it to her. "Enjoy your stay! Feel free to contact the front desk anytime you need anything."

"Th-thank you," Marinette says.

"The elevators are right up the stairs. You're on the highest floor, and your door's the one on the left," she says.

After another quick thank you, Alya and Marinette make their way over to the elevators. Marinette nearly falls over when the doors open to reveal international celebrities such as famous singer Clara Nightingale and Prince Ali of Achu. Lucky for Marinette, while they'll only be staying here for a couple of days, Marinette's going to be staying in this luxurious building for the entire summer.

Marinette nearly faints when Alya presses the button to the thirty-second floor; the view up there must be breath-taking.

Upon reaching the top floor, Marinette and Alya walk along the hall, where two doors are found at the very end. They walk over to the one on the left, and after unlocking the door with her key, Marinette grabs the handle.

"You ready?" Alya asks.

Marinette takes a deep breath, and says, "Ready as I'll ever be."

With that, she opens the door—

—and the penthouse is even more beautiful than she could ever have imagined.

The walls are of a stainless white, with large windows allowing for natural sunlight to pour into the room. The couches in the living room are modern and comfy, the cream color really brings out the simplicity of the room compared to the black-and-white elegance of the main lobby.

Her kitchen is small, but it's just right since she's most likely only going to be making breakfast, considering how she's probably going to have to attend fancy lunches and dinners with Adrien over the summer. Marinette places her box of macarons on the round little dining table before exploring the penthouse some more.

She runs over to her bedroom, and almost screams at its beauty; her walls are in fact windows, allowing her to get a view of the outside with every step she takes. She has curtains all hung up for privacy, and a bed so soft, it feels like she's floating away in a cloud. She walks over to her closet and opens it up, nearly fainting when she discovers it's a walk-in closet filled with designer clothing and shoes. Her bathroom is connected to her bedroom, and she grins at how squeaky clean it is, but she grins wider upon seeing the basket of bath bombs by the sink.

However, the best part of it all was the balcony. Marinette slides open the glass doors, and runs over to the edge, grasping the railings and taking in the beautiful view of Paris before her. She inhales the fresh air, and sighs in contentment at how great it's going to be living here for the next ninety-nine days.

"Like it?" Alya asks, leaning over the door frame with her arms crossed as she smiles at her best friend's reaction.

"I _love_ it!" Marinette exclaims.

"Doesn't feel so bad having to live with Adrien now, does it?"

Marinette blanches.

"Right," she groans. "I was so caught up in the moment that I completely forgot why I was here in the first place."

"You haven't changed one bit," Alya laughs. "Come on, I saw all that luggage in the living room. I'll help you unpack."

* * *

"Anyone caught your eye lately?" Alya pries, wiggling her eyebrows as she helps Marinette place her different sets of pyjamas and casual wear into the white drawers of her new room. "There has to be _one_ boy out there you're interested in."

"A-actually…" Marinette blushes like some lovestruck teenager. "There's this one guy…"

"_No way_. Who?! Where did you meet him?!" Alya asks excitedly.

"I just met him today at Agreste Fashion," Marinette answers shyly. "I bumped into him while waiting for Nino to come back with Adrien."

"Maybe I know him!" Alya says. "What's his name?"

At this, Marinette's face falls.

"Hold up. You didn't ask for his _name_?!" Alya exclaims in disbelief.

"It completely slipped my mind!" Marinette screams, grabbing the sides of her head.

"Slipped your mind?! The first thing you should ever ask anyone is their _name_!" Alya slaps her forehead.

"Maybe you'll know! His hair is—" Marinette begins, but is unfortunately interrupted by her raging best friend.

"Marinette, there are over five _hundred_ employees in the building alone. I'm pretty sure he's not the only one with the hair color you're about to tell me," Alya says, crossing her arms.

Marinett groans. "_Why_ do I always manage to mess these kinds of things up?!"

"Because you're Marinette," Alya teases, laughing. She takes her phone out to check the time, sighing in disappointment when she realizes how late it's gotten. Time just seems to fly when they're together. "I should go. I have to get up early tomorrow for another photoshoot."

"Alright," Marinette sighs. "Thanks for helping me unpack. And I'm so glad that we were able to catch up."

"Me too," Alya says as they both walk over to the entrance. "We'll definitely be seeing each other often, so don't worry. And while you're here, try being nice to Adrien."

"Yeah, yeah," Marinette says. "I'll do my best."

"Mind if I have a macaron before I go?" Alya asks with a sheepish smile. "I miss your parents' sweets all the time."

"No problem!" Marinette exclaims as she opens the box to reveal one last pistachio macaron. The pink ones remain untouched since this morning. "_Please_ try the passion fruit ones."

"No can do. Pistachio's my favorite," Alya says, grabbing the last one and eating it in one bite. Marinette groans, not knowing what to say to her parents when they ask her if anyone enjoyed the passion fruit-flavored treats.

The two girls make their way over to the entrance, and Marinette opens up the door to let her best friend out. Alya walks out after slipping on her shoes, and they hug each other tightly as goodbye.

"Stay safe on your way back," Marinette says.

"Always am," Alya says, walking off. Marinette frowns at her retreating figure, closing the door when she sees Alya enter the elevator in the distance.

Marinette keeps the lights open so that Adrien can she that she's home once he gets back. She walks over to her living room, and plops onto the couch, grabbing a pillow to hug and bury her face into.

"Day one out of one hundred," she mumbles into her pillow. "This is going to be a long summer."

After only getting a few minutes of peace and quiet, she hears a knock on the door. However, it's not the entrance door, but _the_ door separating the two of them. Marinette walks over to it, where it's located right in the middle of the wall in her living room.

"Guess I should introduce myself," Marinette says to herself.

She gets up from the couch and walks over to the door, but not before running over to the dining table to grab the half-empty box of macarons. She walks over to the door once more, slowly opening it up when she hears Adrien ask, "Hello? Are you in there, Marinette?"

"I'm here—" she begins, but her words get caught in her throat the moment she looks up and has eye contact with Adrien Agreste.

Marinette has always found him good-looking, but seeing him in person? Alya was absolutely right—his pictures did him no justice.

He is _gorgeous_.

His hair is the color of gold, and it shines so brightly under the light. He's about one head taller than Marinette, and his build is thin yet muscular. His skin is glowing and flawless, but what stands out the most are his eyes—they're the most beautiful shade of green that she's ever seen.

But she snaps out of her thoughts—his beauty doesn't automatically give him a chance.

"You must be Marinette," Adrien smiles, holding his hand out for her to shake. "I'm Adrien, as you probably already know."

"That's me," she says, shaking his hand with her free one. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"I'm sorry about that," Adrien apologizes sincerely. "I hope you didn't find it rude."

"It's fine. You're busy, I understand," Marinette replies as she merely shrugs.

"Since we're going to be staying with each other for a while, I hope we can be friends," Adrien smiles hopefully.

"We'll see," Marinette says nonchalantly, making Adrien's face fall slightly. She then holds out the little box of treats for him to take and says, "Um, I brought macarons from my family's bakery. It's just a little something to thank you for everything I'll be getting during my stay."

"Oh, that's so kind of you," Adrien says, carefully taking the box out of her hands.

"There were originally two flavors, but there's only one left," Marinette says. "I hope you like it."

"Thank you, Marinette," Adrien says with a breath-taking smile.

There's an awkward silence before Marinette decides to speak up again.

"I should go now. I had a long day, and I'm still trying to take this all in, as you probably know," she says.

"Of course! I'm sorry for bothering you, I just wanted to welcome you here," Adrien says, scratching the back of his head.

"No worries," Marinette says. "Have a good night."

"You too," Adrien says.

With that, Marinette softly closes the door on him.

_He isn't so bad_, she thinks. In fact, he was actually very kind. But it's only the first day, and based on her personal experience, first impressions don't usually last.

With a sigh, Marinette walks into her room to pick up some pyjamas.

"I need a bath."

* * *

Marinette is sitting on her bed, drawing in her sketchbook. A wave of inspiration hit her when she was in the studio earlier, and she just _had_ to jot her ideas down before she forgot.

A knock on _the_ door suddenly interrupts her thoughts.

Marnette walks back into the living room and opens up the door to find Adrien in plaid pyjamas pants and a black shirt.

"Hi, uh," he begins awkwardly. "I just wanted to say good night… again."

"Oh. Good night," Marinette says, raising an eyebrow.

"And I… wanted to thank you again for the macarons. They were delicious," Adrien says with a smile. "Passion fruit is my favorite."

"Oh, I'm glad to hear that," Marinette says as she returns a smile.

"Yeah, um… sleep well, Marinette," Adrien says. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Adrien," she says as they both take a step back to close the doors at the same time.

Marinette slowly makes her way back to her room, and slides into bed to get ready for a new day. Before shutting off her lights, she grabs her phone and texts her parents.

_I gave the passion fruit macarons to Adrien Agreste._

_He loved them_.

* * *

**A/N:** I _really_ wanted to make them live together (without the wall), but I still wanted to keep it (somewhat) realistic. It feels disappointing in a way, but it makes way for some great friendship/relationship development. I really hope I explained the wall splitting the penthouse clearly enough, I based it off of the various hotel rooms I stayed in during my travels.

I love Luka so much, I was grinning while writing his introduction to the story. I'm of course still a huge Adrinette shipper, but Lukanette is definitely up there as well!

Special thank you to all those who added this story to their favorites and/or follows, as well as all those who took the time to write a review! It means so much to me, especially since I've been gone for a while. :')

Thank you for reading!


	3. The Deal

**the thing about second chances**

_chapter three_

**the deal**

Marinette avoids him for the first five days.

And Adrien is very much aware.

Sometimes, he knocks the middle door in the morning, only to be met with silence, realizing that Marinette left the building before him. Sometimes, he invites her to fancy dinners where other models will be attending, only to get rejected because she has plans with Alya. Sometimes, she gets home late, so late that if Adrien knocked on the middle door to check up on her and ask her about her day, it'd be kind of weird.

Adrien gets the feeling that she doesn't like him very much. And to be honest, it hurts a little.

He wanted to be friends with her. He's been homeschooled his whole life and he's been modelling since he was only thirteen. He loves his father dearly, but he's been nothing but controlling since the death of his mother. He was never given the chance to make any new friends.

Adrien hears Marinette's entrance door shut, and his face lights up as he makes his way over to the middle door. He knocks three times, and after a bit of shuffling and the sound of things dropping to the floor, Marinette opens up the door.

"Oh, good morning, Adrien! Do you need anything?" Marinette asks.

"Good morning," Adrien says. "I just wanted to let you know that we've been invited to eat lunch with some models from Germany. I was wondering if you were interested—"

"A-actually," Marinette interrupts, and Adrien deflates as he prepares himself for yet another rejection. "I have plans with Alya today. It's just been so long since we've seen each other, I hope you understand."

"Oh… it's no problem," Adrien says, shoulders drooping slightly. "Tell Alya I say hi."

"I will," Marinette says. "Have a good day, Adrien."

With that, she closes the door, and Adrien closes his, sighing in the process.

"You too, Marinette."

* * *

"Marinette, I love you and all, but you really have to lose the pigtails," Alya says, sitting her down on a chair in front of a white vanity mirror.

"What's wrong with them?" Marinette asks as she self-consciously grabs one of her pigtails.

"Nothing's wrong with them, they just seem kind of… childish?" Alya says, making Marinette frown. She's worn her hair up all her life, be it in pigtails, in a ponytail, or in a bun. She isn't used to keeping her hair down; she always thought that they got in the way of everything.

Alya stares at Marinette's reflection in the mirror, wondering what kind of look would best match her best friend. Gabriel Agreste gave Alya a _pile_ of clothes to give Marinette; some are new, some are old, some are yet to be released. With so many options set out for her best friend, she wants to make her look her very best.

"You only wear mascara, right?" Alya asks, laying out brand new makeup accessories on the vanity table.

"Sometimes I put foundation and powder," Marinette replies.

"We'll go for natural looks, then," Alya says. She then walks over to the rack overflowing with the clothes sent in by Gabriel Agreste, carefully inspecting each article of clothing, wondering what to put together.

"We'll start off very simple, and then gradually get into chic and bold later on," Alya says, picking out a periwinkle dress, sunhat, and white heeled sandals.

"That looks so cute," Marinette beams upon seeing the outfit selection of the day.

"Go try it on," Alya says, pushing her best friend towards the folding screen in the corner.

While Marinette's changing, Alya asks, "Any news about that cute guy you saw?"

"I haven't seen him at all," Marinette sighs as she pulls the dress over her head.

"You would've bumped into him if you accompanied Adrien to his photoshoots," Alya says. "Poor guy. He hasn't done a single thing to you. How many times have you rejected him so far?"

"I'm just not interested in spending time with him. It sounds awkward and weird," Marinette says, strapping on her sandals.

"At least go _once_. Or at least think of this as a way of making connections," Alya shrugs. "Would help a lot to get referred by a model or two. Especially since _my_ word isn't 'good enough'."

"I'll do that once I get this makeover. I don't think I'd be taken seriously with my _childish_ pigtails," Marinette huffs.

"Don't take it so personally! I'm just looking out for you," the stylist laughs.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm done."

Marinette walks out from behind the folding screen, and Alya is so proud to see her best friend looking so pretty. The dress is the color of lavenders in the spring, and it's long and flowy, stopping just above Marinette's ankles. The back of the dress is of a criss-cross fashion, showing off a bit of her back, but not too much to grab people's attention. The sunhat she has on her head is the color of sandy beaches, with a milky white ribbon wrapped around it. Her sandals are the perfect match to her hat, as the heels have the same sandy color, and the straps the same milky white.

"It's perfect," Alya grins, snapping a quick picture with her phone. "Come take a seat, I'll do your hair and makeup."

Marinette obliges, taking a seat in front of the vanity mirror once again. Alya undoes her pigtails and starts combing her hair gently.

"So, why did you _really_ call me here?" Marinette asks, seeing Alya freeze for a split second on the reflection of the mirror. "You know I can dress myself up just fine."

"So, _maybe_ it _is_ about Adrien—" Alya begins with a sheepish smile.

"I knew it," Marinette says flatly.

"I _know_ you've been avoiding him since you got here. I heard from him myself. No wonder you've been showing up here without telling me in advance," Alya says with a shake of her head as she carefully curls her best friend's hair with a curler.

"If I told you I was coming to watch you put outfits together and everything, you wouldn't let me," Marinette says.

"You're right about that," Alya sighs. "Just give him—"

"A chance. I know," Marinette says. "I will soon. But you know how I feel about second chances."

"_Theo_ doesn't deserve a second chance. Adrien does," Alya says, playing with Marinette's hair to make it bouncier and more voluminous.

"We'll see…" Marinette says quietly.

* * *

"I have work to do. I'll call you when I'm free again, okay?" Alya grins, snapping pictures of Marinette, who feels pretty and confident after her makeover. It feels so nice being dressed in clothing carrying the Gabriel Agreste name.

"Sounds good! Thanks again, Alya!" Marinette smiles, waving goodbye as her best friend gently shuts her door.

Marinette starts making her way down the hall to get back to the studio, dodging busy Agreste Fashion employees on her way there. Just as she's about to open the door, someone from the other side opens it up, making her jump a foot back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looki—" Marinette's words get caught in her throat when she realizes who opened the door.

It's the teal-haired boy she met days prior, and he's looking down at her with a small smile. Marinette feels her face grow warm upon realizing that she's all dressed up, and she wonders how he'll react to this new look of hers.

"Don't worry about it, Ma-Ma-Marinette," he teases. "Are you here for a photoshoot?"

"Ph-photoshoot? Me? For Agreste Fashion? Never! Wait, not that I _don't_ want to, I'd give _anything_ to—wait, I'm going off topic—" she bumbles pathetically. She takes a deep breath and calmly answers, "Alya thought it'd be best if I got a makeover since I'm going to be associated with Agreste Fashion for a while."

"I see," the boy chuckles. "I wondered where your pigtails were."

Marinette groans, running a hand through her loose hair self-consciously. "They were childish, weren't they?"

"Actually, I found them cute," the boy laughs, making Marinette look up at him with pink cheeks. "I think I forgot to tell you my name last time. Sorry about that."

"Oh, no, no, no! It's my fault, the first thing I should ask someone is their name, I was just so thrown off in that moment, what with me dropping those macarons and tripping over everything," Marinette smiles sheepishly. "So, um, what can I call you?"

"Luka," the boy replies. "Luka Couffaine."

"Luka," Marinette echoes.

"LUKA!" Vincent suddenly calls out. Marinette and Luka look over to see the camera crew all set up. "We're about to start the photoshoot!"

"It seems like we always get interrupted, huh?" Luka chuckles. "I'll see you around?"

"Definitely," Marinette says.

After flashing her one last smile, Luka walks over to the camera crew to begin the photoshoot.

_Luka Couffaine_. After days of getting scolded by Alya, Marinette finally learned his name.

For a moment, she thinks that _nothing_ can ruin her mood—

—until she passes by Chloe Bourgeois.

"Oh, look Sabrina," Chloe smirks while her assistant cowers over her shoulder. "It's Marinette, and she looks even worse than when she was in her commoner clothes."

Marinette rolls her eyes and walks past the blonde without a word. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to stay quiet. She doesn't need Chloe making up wild, exaggerated stories about her and having them all over the tabloids. Chloe _is_ the mayor's daughter, her mother _is_ the famous fashion designer Audrey Bourgeois, and her family _is_ close to _Gabriel Agreste_. Marinette wouldn't want her name tarnished for the sake of her future career; now that she (soft of) has Gabriel Agreste's attention, she has to make sure he has a good impression of her if she ever wants to work at Agreste Fashion.

"Are you _ignoring_ me?!" Chloe suddenly exclaims.

This makes Marinette snap out of her thoughts; she didn't _mean_ to ignore the blonde at all. She resists the urge to facepalm; Chloe's definitely going to overthink this.

"—And did you think that wearing those clothes would make a difference? _Hmph_, I wore those _months_ ago. Of course, being Adrien's _best_ friend, I get _all_ the new Gabriel Agreste clothes days before they're even revealed to the public. In fact, I can get anything from any of his collections; I just have to ask."

"Good for you," Marinette sassily replies under her breath. Fortunately, Chloe was too busy praising herself to hear her.

"That dress? I remember wearing it while walking down the runway for the _Summer Highlights_ show. That sunhat? Ha, I've worn that too many times to count! And don't even get me started on those shoes—" Chloe pauses, eyes glued to Marinette's stylish black and white heels. "_Where_ did you get those shoes?"

"Alya? Well, Gabriel Agreste himself, technically, since this comes with winning the contest. Why?" Marinette asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you even _know_ which collection that pair is part of?" Chloe glowers, hands clutched and trembling at her sides.

"It's Gabriel Agreste's _La vie en rose_ collection," Marinette answers easily.

"Gabriel Agreste _and_ Audrey Bourgeois' _La vie en rose_ collection," Chloe fumes. "Only _thirty-two_ pairs of those shoes were manufactured before a disagreement between Mr. Agreste and my _mother_ occurred, stopping production. How could he give this to someone like _you_?!"

"Don't ask me," Marinette shrugs. "Why are they so important to you?"

"Th-that's none of your business!" Chloe screams. "Now, what's your shoe size?"

"Um, six?" she replies.

"Perfect, so am I," Chloe says. She then holds her hand out and orders, "Give me your shoes."

"_Excuse me_?" Marinette says incredulously. "You _can't_ be serious."

"I am. Now, give them to me. Hurry up," Chloe orders a second time, snapping her fingers.

Marinette scrunches her eyebrows. She wasn't going to let Chloe push her around her entire stay. If she lets her get away with it once, she's just going to keep coming back.

"Didn't you just say that you can get anything you wanted from Gabriel Agreste if you just asked?" Marinette asks, making the blonde's jaw drop. "If you really wanted a pair, you can ask him for one yourself."

"I can't just—" Chloe begins. She stops herself from continuing her sentence, takes a deep breath to calm herself down, and starts over. "Gabriel Agreste was only able to take _two_ pairs because my mother took the rest. They were shown on the runway _once_ and on a magazine _once_ by the same model before being thrown out due to being used. And then? They were never spoken about again. You're wearing a _rare_ pair of shoes. The _last_ one left, too."

"Lucky me, I guess," Marinette shrugs, infuriating Chloe at how _laid-back_ she is about the situation. "If your mother has the other shoes, then why don't you just ask her?"

Sabrina audibly gasps at Marinette's response.

"Give. Me. Those. Shoes," Chloe orders through gritted teeth.

"These were a gift from Gabriel Agreste himself—I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to say no," Marinette says.

"Don't think you're so high and mighty just because you won that _stupid_ contest," Chloe begins. "I know _plenty_ of people who can help me make your life miserable for the next ninety-four days. I can make sure you never get the chance to walk into this building ever again."

Fear flashes in Marinette's eyes, but she refuses to show it on her face. She's about to talk back to the blonde, when she's suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Enough, Chloe."

Marinette turns around to see Adrien walking up to them. He has a stern look on his face, refusing to break eye contact with his childhood friend.

"But Adrien!" Chloe complains, pointing a finger at Marinette. "She's wearing _my_ shoes!"

"Father laid those shoes out for Marinette. You may not agree with it, but it's no reason to threaten her," Adrien tells her. "If you need to complain to anyone, you can complain to my father about it. It was his decision to give her those shoes, after all."

Chloe slightly winces at his response, but she keeps going. "Then… it's _also_ not fair that you have to spend all summer with her! You should be spending it with _me_!"

"Again, it wasn't _my_ decision, Chloe. She won fair and square," Adrien reasons calmly. "Since she's going to be here all summer, I want you to be a little nicer to her. I want you to make her feel at least a little welcomed."

"And why should I?" Chloe scoffs, childishly crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

"Because we're friends."

This phrase alone makes Chloe open her eyes in shock and drop her arms to her sides. She looks into Adrien's eyes with a slight frown on her face.

She suddenly remembers the last time Adrien said this very sentence to her; she made a new model at Agreste Fashion cry, and when Adrien learnt of this, he said he would stop being her friend if she continued being this way. He told her that he's given her plenty of chances since they've been friends for years, but he, too, has his limits.

"Fine. I'll do it for you, Adrien," Chloe finally says, defeated. She then turns to Marinette and says, "You better not try anything funny, you understand?"

Chloe walks past Marinette when one of the photographers call her name, and Sabrina (who Marinette _completely_ forgot was there with them) hurriedly follows after her. Adrien and Marinette watch her go, the latter taking quick glances at her roommate.

She tries to gather up the courage to say thank you, but Adrien's the one to break the silence instead.

"I have a photoshoot now," he says, giving her a small smile. "You can go home first."

Adrien walks off before Marinette can say anything to him. She watches him walk over to Luka, who gives him instructions before he walks onto the photoshoot area.

Marinette watches him with somewhat of a shocked expression on her face, still trying to let everything sink in. When it finally does, she smiles in his direction before heading out of the studio and into the elevator to get back to the first floor.

* * *

"And… we're done!"

Adrien sighs in relief, and walks over to his photographer, who's currently looking through all the pictures he took during the photoshoot.

"These are really good shots, Adrien," Luka says, locking his favorite pictures. "It must be nice being so photogenic."

"I have to be," Adrien laughs. "Thanks for the photoshoot, Luka. Your work never disappoints."

"You're just saying that to be nice," Luka says modestly. "We're done with your shoots for today. You can head out."

With a nod, Adrien makes his way over to Nino, who tells him about his schedule for the next day as they walk past the _Models Only_ door. Adrien's only half-listening, wondering if he and Marinette would ever become friends. Almost a week has passed, and they've only spoken a total of four, maybe five, times. And they barely count, since they were mostly just morning greetings or rejected invitations.

"—and ballroom dancing with Gorilla at 7:30pm."

"Wait, what?"

"_Finally_," Nino laughs, putting Adrien's schedule away. "Is that the first one you caught? What's on your mind?"

"Marinette doesn't seem to like me very much," Adrien frowns. "I have no idea what I've done to make her dislike me."

"Give her some time," Nino says, throwing an arm over his best friend's shoulder. "She's probably just trying to avoid the paparazzi and reporters. Maybe it's not you."

"I hope not," Adrien says melancholically.

Upon reaching his changing room, Adrien walks inside while Nino waits outside, leaning against the wall as he organizes Adrien's schedule for the following weeks.

"Maybe I'm not being friendly enough," Adrien says as he walks out in his everyday clothes. "Can you ask Alya what she likes? Maybe I can get her a—"

"Adrien, first of all, you're probably _the_ friendliest person in all of Paris," Nino laughs. "And second of all, don't try to gain her friendship with material things. Just be yourself."

They walk over to the elevator, and Nino presses the button to the first floor once they both enter.

"I read that she tried to sell her spot online," Adrien says sadly. "Maybe she _does_ hate me."

The elevator doors open, and Nino is the first one to walk out. He looks around the corner, smirking at the sight before him.

"Or maybe she doesn't," is all Nino says.

Adrien walks out of the elevator, shocked to find none other than Marinette sitting at one of the velvet couches on the main floor lobby. She's drawing in a sketchbook, but upon noticing Nino and Adrien staring at her, she puts it away and waves at them.

"I'll… go help Alya put today's photoshoot outfits away," Nino says, stepping back into the elevator and immediately shutting the doors.

Adrien walks over to Marinette, confusion written all over his face.

"Marinette? What are you doing here?" Adrien asks. It must've been an hour and a half since the start of his photoshoot; he thought that she'd be home by now.

"I waited for you," Marinette answers, getting up from her seat. "I thought we could head home together."

Adrien tries to hide the smile that threatens to spread across his face, but to no avail.

"Thank you for waiting for me," he says.

"It's nothing," Marinette replies. "Mr. Fu is waiting for us outside. We should hurry."

With a nod, the two exit the building side by side, greeting Mr. Fu politely when they see him waiting for them by the limousine. The chauffeur opens up the door, and Adrien gestures for Marinette to go first, who obliges and scoots over to make space for the blond.

The car ride is silent, a little awkward, but Adrien expected nothing less. They're both looking out the window, seemingly trying to avoid eye contact. Adrien can see Marinette in the reflection of the window, wondering if he should strike up a conversation or simply remain silent.

"I… wanted to thank you for earlier," Marinette suddenly says, making Adrien turn to her in surprise. She turns away from the limo's window to smile at him. "I thought that you'd automatically side with Chloe, considering you've been friends with her all your life."

"She may be my friend, but I'll always be against siding with someone who's clearly in the wrong," Adrien answers truthfully, and Marinette smiles at his words.

"What was that whole ordeal about these shoes though?" Marinette asks, lifting up a foot to show him her heels.

"Those… are from the Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeois collaboration," Adrien says.

"Chloe told me about that, but that doesn't explain why she threatened me just because I wouldn't give my pair to her," Marinette says.

"Chloe rarely ever sees her mother. It's been two years since she's seen her. Audrey lives in New York City and she's always busy, so you can imagine how Chloe feels," Adrien says. "She misses her all the time, even though she refuses to show it. She'll take anything that reminds her of her mother."

Marinette feels sad for Chloe; she can't imagine how lonely it must be for her. With her father as mayor and her mother as a famous designer, she must feel neglected and lonely at times.

"But that doesn't excuse her actions," Adrien says. "I couldn't let her get away with threatening you."

Silence takes over, and Marinette awkwardly looks down at her knees, casting glances at Adrien every now and then.

She expected him to defend Chloe, and say the usual, "She's not so bad once you get to know her." He stood up for what was right, earning Marinette's trust and admiration. She feels horribly guilty, however; she judged him before even giving him a chance. She purposely left her penthouse in the early mornings to avoid talking to him, and she cancelled on lunches and dinners so that she didn't have to awkwardly sit next to him for hours.

"I don't think I've been fair to you," Marinette suddenly says, breaking the silence and resting her clutched fists on her knees. Marinette then looks up at Adrien with a little smile on her face. "Is there anything I can do to make up for how I've acted towards you?"

"Actually…" Adrien begins, scratching the back of his head. "There _is_ something. It's really small, but it would mean a lot to me."

"What is it?" Marinette asks.

"I was wondering if we could start over and be…" he says, holding out a hand. "Friends?"

Marinette sees the hope and sincerity all over his face; the way his eyebrows subtly crease, the way his eyes sparkle, and the way the corners of his mouth tremble nervously as he awaits her response. The question is so innocent, yet sad at the same time.

_He's a nice person._

_Just give him a chance_.

That's all she's heard the moment she arrived. With that many people defending him despite her assumptions… he must be someone _worth_ defending.

Marinette takes his hand and shakes it firmly, giving him her best smile.

"Friends."

* * *

Adrien couldn't be happier that Marinette agreed to be his friend.

But he isn't so sure about how this whole "friends" thing worked. He's been homeschooled and sheltered all his life; he wasn't going to let his social awkwardness and desperation get in the way—which is why he did some research.

Number one: Friends like to give each other gifts.

"Marinette! I got you the newest Agreste Fashion catalogue! And the one that's yet to be released!"

Number two: Friends like to eat together.

"Good morning, Marinette! Want to eat breakfast together?"

Number three: Friends like to talk to each other about anything.

"I like to think that I was a cat in a past life. What about you, Marinette?"

The list went on and on. Was he being a bit too much? Maybe.

But Marinette never seemed to mind. Sometimes, she laughs at what he says. Sometimes, she smiles brightly after accepting the gifts her gets her. Sometimes, she smiles when he babbles on and on about nonsense.

Adrien can tell that she isn't comfortable around him yet, but he can tell that she's been putting a lot of effort as well. While she can be quiet, she always listened to what he had to say, and she even stopped avoiding him completely. He's gotten so used to being rejected by her whenever he invited her to anything, that he nearly fell out of his chair when she said yes for the first time.

Adrien smiles down at the tray he's carrying. He neatly placed a bunch of pretty pastries and desserts on it, excited to share them with Marinette. He knocks on the middle door, grinning once Marinette opens it up.

"My father's assistant dropped off some pastries for us. Do you want to eat them together?" Adrien asks.

"Why not?" Marinette grins, stepping aside to let the blond in. "Have a seat, I'll go get us some drinks. Want anything specific?"

"Water's fine," he answers as Marinette walks over to the cupboards.

Adrien makes his way over to the dining area, carefully setting the tray down on the little mahogany table. That's when he notices the sketchbook lying wide open, and the abundance of pens, lead pencils, colored pencils, and markers.

That's when he also notices the drawings on the pages. He sees drawings of models wearing clothing with intricate detail, colored with absolute love and caution, each one with a concept of its own. While one model is clothed in neutrals, another one is clad in pastels. While one is dressed in sweaters and long skirts, one is dressed in sleeveless tops and short A-line skirts. Arrows and notes point to different articles of clothing, specifying the color and type of fabric.

Adrien carefully flips the page to see a section of male models this time; one wearing formal clothes, and the other wearing casual. The next page is a winter collection, the next one is for couples, the next one—

"WH-WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?"

Adrien jumps in surprise at the sudden panicked yell, and he watches as Marinette places the drinks, plates and utensils on the table before clumsily picking up her sketchbook and loose papers.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to look through your things without permission!" Adrien apologizes, waving his hands frantically. "I was just amazed by what I saw."

"Amazed? No, no, no, they aren't done, and some are absolutely _horrible_—" Marinette begins, face turning a deep shade of red.

"I didn't think any of them were horrible," Adrien says truthfully. "I actually thought a lot of them were gorgeous."

"R… really?" Marinette asks, wide-eyed. She looks into his eyes, looks for a sign that'll tell her that he's lying; but all she sees is sincerity.

"Really," Adrien nods with a smile. "Do you think I can look through them?"

He sees the hesitation on face, but it disappears almost immediately, and he sighs in relief when he sees her loosen her grip on her sketchbook.

"Sure," she says, passing her his work. "We're friends now, aren't we?"

For the next half hour, Adrien flips through the pages of Marinette's sketchbook, making positive comments on each one of her designs. His share of pastries lay forgotten on the table before him, while Marinette takes the last bite of her last piece of cake. She's moved from her seat opposite him to next to him, taking in every comment he makes about her designs. Once he's reached the final page, he closes it and hands it back to Marinette, who has newfound confidence in her designs.

"My father didn't offer you a job even after seeing _those_?" Adrien asks incredulously.

"No, no, this is completely new; I'm starting over again. My portfolio from back then was… awful… I knew I didn't stand a chance," Marinette frowns.

"Were you just not as inspired back then?" Adrien asks.

"It's not that," she shakes her head. "Let's just say I _lost_ inspiration after a certain… decision."

_A breakup_, Adrien thinks. By the solemn expression on her face, it has to be it.

"I understand," Adrien says. He then continues with a smile, "Well, if you keep making such beautiful designs, my father definitely won't reject you a second time. You have talent, Marinette. You were practically born to be a stylist or fashion designer."

"Thanks, Adrien," Marinette says with a small smile.

While smiling back at her, Adrien's eyes glance over at the clock on the wall, his face visibly blanching. Marinette immediately notices his change of expression, and she laughs.

"Late?" she asks.

"About to be," Adrien gulps. "Nino must be freaking out right about now."

"I'll call Mr. Fu," Marinette says, punching in his contact information and putting her phone up to her ear. After a quick exchange, she tells Adrien, "He'll be here in about ten minutes."

"I better go clean myself up," Adrien says, rushing towards the middle door to head over to his side of the penthouse.

"What about your cakes—" Marinette begins.

"You can have them! I was originally going to give them all to you anyway!" Adrien says as he swings open the two doors.

When Adrien finishes freshening up, he gingerly walks over to the middle door and pokes his head into Marinette's penthouse, asking, "Are you going to see Alya again later?"

"No, I think I'm just going to stay here. Maybe draw a bit more, and then watch a movie," she replies.

"Oh. Do you think I can join you in watching your movie if the photoshoot ends quickly?" he asks nervously, each word getting quieter and quieter.

"Yes, you can," she answers, laughing when Adrien's face lights up.

"Alright! I'll see you later, Marinette!" he says, shutting the middle door.

Marinette decides to clean up a bit, picking up the drinking glasses, plates and utensils to throw into the sink. While doing so, she takes a quick glance at her sketchbook, making her automatically think back to her interaction with Adrien just a few minutes prior.

All she can do is smile.

* * *

After an exhausting photoshoot, Adrien knocks on the middle door, opening it up once he hears her say, "It's unlocked!"

He enters Marinette's living room to find her curled up on the couch, munching on some buttered popcorn while watching a Japanese movie. She has her makeup off, her black hair up in a bun, and she's wearing pink and while polka-dotted pyjamas you'd think she grew out of years ago.

"What are you watching?" Adrien asks, plopping onto the space next to her face-down.

"Your ex-girlfriend," Marinette replies nonchalantly as she continues to eat her popcorn. She notices the model visibly freeze from the corner of her eye, and then he quickly flips himself around the second Kagami Tsurugi speaks. His eyes are wide and longing as he watches the scene before him. By the way he mouths the words, Marinette knows he's watched this movie more than once.

"_Why did you leave me?" Kagami's character, Ryuko, asks in tears._

"_I had no choice," her male co-star's character, Daisuke, whispers._

"_I waited for you," she cries. "Every day."_

"—Adrien? Are you all right?"

Adrien snaps out of his thoughts and turns to Marinette, who's looking at him with raised eyebrows. "I called your name three times now," she says, putting her bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of them.

"You did?" Adrien asks, confused. He then scratches the back of his head, and laughs, "Sorry, I guess I got a little too into the movie."

"Oh, it's not the movie. It's Kagami," Marinette says.

"It's not—" Adrien starts.

"That wasn't a question," she interrupts. "I know that look."

"You do?" Adrien asks, barely above a whisper.

"I do," Marinette sighs. "Because it's the same look I would make whenever I saw even a glimpse of my ex after we broke up. You're still not over her, are you?"

Adrien goes silent. And then, he answers, "I'm not. Not even close."

"Who broke it off?" Marinette asks. "If you don't mind me asking…"

"It's fine. We're friends now, aren't we?" Adrien says, and Marinette slowly nods her head. "She… broke it off. She said that I was immature because I couldn't decide for my own, and only did what other people wanted me to do. She said that I was too agreeable, and never fought for the things I _really_ wanted. She didn't want to keep dating someone like that. She said that I was pulling her down."

"That's a bit much…" Marinette says.

"She's kind of right," Adrien smiles sadly. "I'm in my early twenties, and I still do every single thing my father tells me to do. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but in a way, it does feel like I can't choose for myself."

He then sighs, running a hand through his hair. "I miss her though," he says quietly. "Every day."

Marinette looks at him sadly, and it hurts her because she knows _exactly_ how he feels. When Theo Barbot broke up with her and left her a complete mess, his final words to her left a huge dent in her self-confidence. She's _still_ trying to recover from the pain one year later.

"How about a deal then?" Marinette suddenly offers with a smile. "We have one hundred days together, right? Well, we have less than that now, but that's still enough time to make a deal, no?"

"What kind of deal?" Adrien asks.

"I help you get back with your ex-girlfriend before my days here are up. If I succeed, you help me get a job as a stylist at Agreste Fashion. If I fail, then at least I tried and at least you get to talk to her one last time. It doesn't sound so bad, does it?" Marinette grins. At this point, she'd be willing to do _anything_ to get her dream job, even if it meant having to play matchmaker for a little over three months.

"Sure, but one problem: Kagami's in _Japan_ for the summer. We're probably going to head over there for a photoshoot, but we definitely won't stay for long. You really think you can fix things between me and her in just one week, or maybe even less?" Adrien asks, unconvinced.

"A lot can happen in one week," Marinette shrugs. "And sometimes, I happen to get the right idea at the right time."

"What if things get worse between us?" Adrien asks nervously.

"Then you'll know. At least this way, you can finally let go of the smallest bit of hope of you two getting back together. At least you'll finally get to talk it out instead of waiting for your phone to ring, hoping that it's them," she sighs heavily. "At least you'll get closure. That's the best thing you could hope for. Because then you can finally move on and accept the fact that they weren't the one."

"You speak with experience."

"Well, I've been there, and I've done that. There's no point waiting for something to happen without taking any action."

Adrien looks down, eyebrows creased, deep in thought.

"So, a job at my father's company in exchange for me getting one last chance with my ex?" Adrien summarizes. He makes a thinking pose, and then he concludes, "I'd say it's pretty fair."

"We're good then," Marinette says. "Deal?"

She holds her hand out, smiling up at him. Adrien looks down at it and shakes it without a second thought.

"Deal."

* * *

**A/N:** The deal has been made! Things are going to be a lot more interesting from here on, especially since Adrien and Marinette are now friends.

Also, have you guys watched the Season 3 Finale yet? What did you think of it? I personally found it okay, but I'm honestly more excited to watch _Félix_ and _Chat Blanc_!

Thank you so much to all those who have added this story to their favorites and/or alerts, and a special thank you to those who left a review! It means so much to me!

Thank you for reading!


	4. Trepidation

**the thing about second chances**

_chapter four_

**trepidation**

"You're really joining me?"

"Yes. This is the fifth time you've asked."

Adrien pushes the button to the fifteenth floor, making the elevator doors close not too long after. In the elevator, Adrien eyes Marinette suspiciously, while she smiles innocently and shifts from one foot to the other, trying hard to ignore his gaze.

"Alya's at a fashion show on the other side of the city. It's a bit hard for me to believe that you're _really_ here for my photoshoot," Adrien says, scratching the back of his head.

"And why's that?" Marinette huffs.

"I mean, waking up at seven in the morning is a bit much if my photoshoot is scheduled at ten," Adrien laughs. "Plus, you put in way more effort on your appearance today."

"I _am_ representing the Agreste brand while I'm here," Marinette says, smoothing out her long, pleated skirt. "I think it's important for me to look my best wherever I go."

"Fair," Adrien says, but his suspicions never leave.

The elevator dings, signaling they made it to their floor. When the doors slide open, Adrien and Marinette step forward, barely flinching when an employee holding a pile of designer clothes zips past them. Adrien strategically makes it past the sea of busy workers, while Adrien laughs as Marinette struggles.

"If you came along more often, you'd learn how to dodge them," he teases.

"Oh, shut up," Marinette says with a laugh.

"I'm going to go change," he says. And then, he smirks, "Careful not to trip over anything."

She groans. "Nino?"

"Of course," Adrien cackles as he walks through the _Models Only_ door. Marinette rolls her eyes with a smile before slowly making her way through the studio.

After carefully stepping over some wires she definitely would've tripped on, Marinette looks up from her feet and instantly lets out a yelp when she catches sight of a familiar teal-haired photographer.

"Oh, hey Marinette," he greets with a smile as he walks over to her, letting his camera hang loosely around his neck.

"H-hi, Luka," she says.

"Decided to join Adrien today?" he asks, leading the way to Adrien's photoshoot area.

"Yeah," she replies. "I kind of felt like I was wasting my summer. This is the one chance I get to actually go around the Agreste Fashion building."

Once at their destination, Marinette can see the hairstylist arranging her tools and products, the lighting crew playing with the lights, and the props crew fixing up the last of the set. The concept is meant to look like a coffee shop; a round mahogany table and matching mahogany chair sits in the middle while a white cup of hot coffee rests on top of it. The coffee shop has a color palette of browns and blacks of different shades, and the lighting is dim, making it look as though it were sunset.

"Is this a photoshoot for Fall?" Marinette asks.

"Good eye," Luka nods. "It's still a bit far, but it's Gabriel Agreste's orders."

Adrien walks into the set not long after, and heads right over to the hairstylist. He's wearing a black turtleneck, long tan trench coat, dark grey pants, and ankle-length black boots. A black beret is carefully and neatly placed on his head once his hairstylist is done with his hair, and he looks over at Marinette to shoot her one last grin before stepping onto the set. He sits at the coffee table, politely telling everyone that they've all done a good job with everything.

"Are we ready to start?" Luka asks aloud. The staff all exclaim yes, and Adrien immediately strikes a pose.

"You're real confident, aren't you?" Marinette asks the blond with a straight face.

"Only sometimes," Adrien grins.

"Alright, Adrien," Luka says, checking his camera's settings one last time. "One arm on the table, the other holding the coffee to your lips, and look to your side."

Adrien obeys.

_Snap!_

"Hand on your cheek, elbow on the table, look to your side again."

_Snap!_

"Hands cupping your coffee cup, look straight at me."

_Snap!_

Marinette watches in awe as Luka instructs Adrien on how to pose. She can see how passionate Luka is at his job; the way his face contorts in concentration while looking into the lens, the way he moves from one side to the other to capture Adrien's best angles, the way he orders the crew around to match his vision. She can't help but stare at him in admiration.

On Adrien's side, after every shot, he expects a snarky comment or joke from his new friend, but he instead gets neither. When Luka stops the photoshoot temporarily to see how the pictures turned out, Adrien takes this as a chance to glance over at Marinette, only to find her staring at his photographer. He quickly puts two and two together, and a smirk immediately plays on his lips.

"What do you think of this one?" Luka asks Marinette, showing her the shows on his camera. "I took two from different angles, but I don't know which one is better."

Adrien watches as Marinette pathetically stumbles all over her words. "I think this one looks good—not that the other one looks bad! It's just, the angle this was taken on makes it look like the sun is—wait. No. The lighting in the same. What I mean is…!" she stammers, making exaggerated arm gestures. And then, she stops and quietly answers, "I-I like the first one."

"Then I'll stick with the first one," Luka laughs, locking it as a favorite on his camera.

Seeing this, Adrien knows that his suspicions have been confirmed.

(His smile fades slightly when the memories hit him after seeing their interaction; he knows how Marinette feels about Luka because he acted the exact same way with Kagami once upon a time).

* * *

"Marinette? Can I come in?" Adrien calls out from the middle door.

"Sure—oh! Hold on, let me just unlock it!" Marinette says as she runs over to the door to twist the lock.

Adrien walks through the door once she opens it up, and he stares in awe at the mountain of ingredients resting on top of the kitchen counter.

"Baking supplies?" Adrien asks, walking over to it.

"I was craving my parents' sugar cookies; I thought I'd make some. My mom sent me the recipe just now," she explains.

"Why don't you go get some at their bakery?" he asks.

"The bakery got _really_ popular after I won the contest. They're practically drowning in orders," Marinette explains. "I'd hate to add another order to the list."

"I understand," Adrien says, studying the ingredients. "Can I help?"

"Oh, sure, that sounds like fun," Marinette says. "I think I would've gotten bored doing it all by myself. It'd be nice to have someone to talk to."

"Just tell me what to do and I'll do it," Adrien grins, grabbing a whisk and flipping it in the air.

Marinette snatches it mid-air and asks, "Have you ever baked before?"

"N-no… but—" Adrien begins.

"If you mess up one thing, it'll ruin it. It's not like cooking where you can just keep adding things or adjust the taste as you go. Once it's in the oven, it's done," Marinette explains. She gathers a handful of mini food coloring bottles and powdered sugar. "You're on icing duty. Can't mess that one up."

"Fine," Adrien huffs.

Marinette passes him all the ingredients needed to make icing, and Adrien huffs childishly as he pours powdered sugar into four little bowls. Marinette places an empty cup behind her phone to keep it upright, and she starts adding the dry ingredients together as per the recipe's instructions.

"Why sugar cookies all of a sudden?" Adrien asks, pouring some milk into one of four bowls.

"I don't have any anything planned for the day, and I was craving something sweet. I guess I just needed something to pass the time that involves a reward in the end," she shrugs, pouring the wet ingredients into a separate bowl this time.

"Fair enough," Adrien says.

The two remain silent afterwards. All that could be heard are the sounds of Marinette's whisking, and Adrien splashing milk into the powdered sugar. Adrien decides to break the silence, a smirk playing on his lips.

"So… Luka Couffaine, huh?" he teases.

Marinette lets out a scream and nearly drops the bowl she's holding her hands. After composing herself, she asks, "M-me? And Luka? _No_, I mean—_pfft_, what makes you think I have a thing for him?"

"I didn't say you had a thing for him," Adrien says, stifling his laughter when he sees Marinette freeze and pale.

"I-I… you—I didn't—" she stammers, and then groans. "Did Alya tell you?!"

"She didn't tell me anything," Adrien says, putting his hands up.

"Oh… Is it really that obvious?" Marinette asks, slumping her shoulder pathetically.

"Very," Adrien replies. "I just watched you sneak glances at him every now and then during photoshoots. And you turn visibly red after every conversation you have with him."

Marinette puts her mixing bowl down and grabs the sides of her head, screaming, "What if he _knows_ already and hasn't said anything about it to not hurt my feelings because he's too polite to reject me?! Wait, he has a girlfriend, doesn't he?! He probably thinks I'm a _horrible_ person for crushing on him when he's already taken! I can't believe I—"

"_Woah_, calm down, you're overthinking," Adrien says. "He's single, and I'm about 99.2% certain he doesn't know you have a thing for him."

Marinette sighs in relief.

"You've been to a few of my photoshoots already. I don't think staring at him all summer is going to get his attention," Adrien says with a laugh. When he realizes that Marinette hasn't said anything after his comment, he turns to her and feels guilty when he sees the look on her face. "I'm sorry, did I offend you? I didn't mean to."

"Huh? No, no, you didn't. I was just…" she trails off, her mixing slowing to a halt. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Of course you can," Adrien says, and when he sees the slight hesitation on her face, he assures her, "I promise I won't judge."

"It's a bit personal," she says.

"If you feel uncomfortable sharing it, I won't be offended," Adrien says. "We haven't known each other for long, so I'll understand if you change your mind."

"I… I'll trust you for this one," Marinette says, and Adrien smiles at her words.

For them to reach this level of friendship makes him feel so happy inside. He's never had anyone confide in him before.

"It's hard for me to actively pursue Luka because… well… I'm scared," she says with a frown, stopping her mixing completely. She sets her whisk down and gestures for Adrien to help her out. As he slowly pours the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, Marinette whisks them together slowly.

"Scared? That it won't work out?" Adrien asks when he returns to his station. "You haven't given it a try yet. You can't assume the worst right away—"

"No, it's not that," Marinette says, shoulders slumped. She watches as Adiren gently squeezes red food coloring into his icing mix. He winces when he realizes he may have put in too much, but she gives him a nod that it's perfectly fine. She continues, "My ex left me in absolute ruins."

"You're afraid you might go through that again?" Adrien asks, and Marinette hesitantly nods. She takes the cookie dough out and flattens it out with her rolling pin. There's silence, but when Adrien gets his voice back, he asks in a whispered voice, "What happened?

"His name is Theo. He's two years older than me, so I was still in college when we started dating. We met at this Art Exhibition, and we dated for a little over two years," she begins, taking out the cookie cutters she bought earlier that day.

A ladybug, a cat head, a butterfly, a bee, a fox, a turtle; she picked out peculiar ones, but Adrien knows that decorating them will be a whole lot of fun. Hopefully, it'll make her feel a little better after revisiting her sad past.

"Naturally, I wanted to perfect my portfolio since it's been a life-long dream of mine to work at Agreste Fashion after graduation," Marinette says. "But only after we broke up did I realize he kept taking away my time. He was a painter and sculptor; he was constantly drowning in commissions. So, he often asked me if I could help him."

After realizing that Adrien finished making the icing, Marinette invites him over and passes him the cookie cutters. As she watches him, she continues her story with a solemn look on her face.

"I helped him as much as I could. I sacrificed a lot of my time. Instead of studying or working on my portfolio, I gave it all to him. He was my very first boyfriend, stupid and naïve me was too afraid to say no," she explains. "So, I helped him. I helped design posters to advertise his upcoming exhibits. I helped fetch art supplies, helped with his sculpting, and just about anything he needed."

When Adrien finished cutting out as many shapes as he could, Marinette takes the leftover dough and rolls it up into a ball. She flattens it out with the rolling pin once more, allowing Adrien to poke out two more shapes, deciding on the ladybug and cat.

"One day, I realized that my portfolio had taken a back seat because I was so busy helping him all the time. I told him I couldn't help him anymore and instead focused on my studies and projects. He took it rather well, saying he understands because I was pursuing my dream. But he was lying the whole time," she recalls somewhat angrily as the memories played in her head. "He started acting a bit more distant after that. I didn't think much of it though; I knew he was busy, and besides, I had my own things to worry about too."

When Adrien finishes cutting them out, Marinette takes the leftover pieces of dough and shapes it into a little circle for zero waste. She lines a baking sheet with parchment paper as Adrien gently places the cookies on it, generously placing them one inch apart from each other.

"One day, I woke up to find his things all packed up. He was at the entrance put his shoes on," she frowns. "I asked him what he was doing, and he said that's he's leaving me. I tried to get him to stay, but he said that it's too late. He said that it was all _my_ fault that the relationship didn't work out. _I_ was selfish because I didn't want to help him. _I_ never gave him attention. All _I_ cared about was Agreste Fashion."

Once done placing the cookies onto the baking sheet, Adrien puts Marinette's pink oven mitts on and puts it into the oven. Marinette sets a twelve-minute timer for the cookies once the oven door closes, and the two of them go on to put the colorful icing into piping bags.

"I couldn't stay in that apartment afterwards. It turned into a place of bad memories rather than good," she nods, moving onto the black icing. "So, I packed up my things and left the next day to move back in with my parents."

Once they were done with the icing, the two decide to wash the dishes together, with Adrien in charge of soaping them, and Marinette in charge of washing them and placing them on the rack to dry.

"Did he reach out to you afterwards?" Adrien asks, handing her a soapy mixing bowl.

"No," she says. "But I hoped for it every day."

Her words alone were enough to make Adrien realize just how similar they were. She waited for Theo just like he waited for Kagami.

"My portfolio suffered afterwards. I had zero motivation," Marinette says, recalling those late nights binging sad dramas with puffy red eyes and eating three tubs of chocolate ice cream in one go while curled up in bed. "I couldn't do anything. I remember not touching my portfolio for an entire week; I didn't even look at it."

Adrien hands her the last of the dishes, and Marinette cleans them all up before continuing her story.

"The deadline for the Designers' Showcase was nearing and I barely had anything to display, save for a few last-minute outfits I sewed up, and a near-empty booklet of poor designs. Your father flipped through the pages of my booklet, and I can _still_ remember the way my heart dropped when he said that they were mediocre at best. He said that Agreste Fashion is too good for someone like me."

"That's just because they _weren't_ your best," Adrien says. "They may have been the best you were able to put out in the condition you were in, but once you show him what you're really capable of, my father won't say no. He knows talent when he sees it."

Marinette gives him a small smile.

"I hope it didn't discourage you too much," Adrien says quietly.

"It did," she admits, her smile disappearing. "Failing to catch Gabriel Agreste's attention and losing Theo hit me real hard. For months, I blamed myself for not being good enough because I couldn't get Gabriel Agreste to notice me. For months, I honestly believed I was selfish since Theo's words forever echoed in my mind; I thought that, if I had continued helping him, he wouldn't have left."

"Don't think like that."

Marinette looks up at Adrien in surprise.

"You know what I think?" Adrien asks. "He _didn't_ want you to get into Agreste Fashion."

"What are you talking about?" she asks. "Of course he did, he supported me—"

"Stop trying to defend someone like him. If he really wanted you to get in, he wouldn't have taken all that time away from you. He would've encouraged you to work hard on your portfolio instead of encouraging you to help him out with his work. Sounds to me he didn't like the idea of you having a _better_ career than him."

Marinette eyes widen. "But… he…" she begins.

"Agreste Fashion is the top fashion design company in France. It seems like _he_ wanted to be the more successful one out of you two. It doesn't help that you're both in the creative field," Adrien says. "Rather than thinking of you as his equal, you were competition."

"I never thought of it that way…" Marinette says.

"And now, you know what you're doing? You're assuming that Luka's the same as Theo," Adrien says.

"I didn't say that Luka's the same as Theo—"

"_No_, but you're unhealthily projecting your past trauma onto him."

Marinette shrinks in her spot on the couch.

"I'd say you give Luka a chance. I've been working with him for almost two years now, I know what kind of person he is," Adrien says, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He's a really good guy."

"I'll think about it," Marinette says, biting her lip.

"Give it some good thought," Adrien says. "You miss one hundred percent of the chances you don't take."

"How cheesy," she laughs. "But you do have a point."

Adrien gets up at the sound of the oven's ding.

"Come on, the cookies are ready."

With a smile, Marinette gets up and follows him back into the kitchen, ready to decorate the cookies with icing.

* * *

Now that Adrien knows who she has a crush on, Marinette can't help but slap her forehead every time she accompanies him to photoshoots. When Luka isn't looking, Adrien always take the chance to tease her by suggestively wiggling his eyebrows.

"I have a photoshoot with Luka at the park this afternoon. It's at the fountain near the carousel," Adrien says one morning while they're eating breakfast. "And you're coming with me."

"What?! Why?" Marinette exclaims, the piece of egg falling right off her fork.

"So that you can get closer to Luka. It'll only be the three of us, so you'll be able to get more chances to talk to him," Adrien replies nonchalantly. "I've got a meeting before that, so I'll meet you there."

Adrien finishes the rest of his food, ignoring Marinette's sudden flurry of excuses. He gets up to wash it in the sink, and once done, he hurries back to his side of the penthouse to get ready. She hears the water running, guessing he's probably brushing his teeth as of now. Marinette finishes the rest of her breakfast, dumping her dishes in the sink to wash later.

Adrien walks back into Marinette's penthouse after cleaning himself up, and tells her, "I just wanted to give you a chance to actually talk to him without getting interrupted every time."

"It does sound nice to have an actual conversation with him rather than just saying _hi_ and _how are you?_" Marinette admits.

"Exactly. Do you have your phone with you?" Adrien asks. When she takes it out of her pocket, she unlocks it and hands it to him. "I'm giving you my number. Luka still hasn't confirmed whether 2:00PM or 3:00PM is best for him, so I'll let you know when he answers me."

Adrien gets a call from Mr. Fu saying that he's right outside. After hanging up, Marinette asks, "You better get there on time."

"Luka has another photoshoot after me. I _have_ to be there on time," he laughs.

Before leaving the penthouse, Adrien sees the nervous expression on her face and assures her, "Don't worry, things won't be awkward. I'll help you out by being there."

—or not.

_where are you?_ she texts Adrien before shoving her phone back into her pocket.

She's at the photoshoot spot, at exactly three in the afternoon, but Adrien is nowhere in sight. Just as she's about to leave to avoid the awkwardness that will definitely ensue once Luka gets there before the blond, someone taps her shoulder, making her freeze.

"Marinette? What are you doing here?" a familiar voice asks.

Marinette turns around slowly to see Luka right behind me her carrying a bag most likely filled with photography equipment.

"I-I'm supposed to meet Adrien here to accompany him for the photoshoot," Marinette answers.

"Oh, I'm glad you came along. You've been tagging along lately, it's nice seeing you during photoshoots at the studio," Luka says, taking his camera out to start adjusting the settings.

Marinette suddenly feels a buzz in her pocket and takes her phone out to read Adrien's reply.

_You know, I'm suddenly not feeling so well._

Her jaw drops upon reading the text. A few seconds later, he texts her again.

_Have fun on your date! ;)_

"Is that a text from Adrien?" Luka asks, startling her and making her let out a little yelp.

"Y… yeah, it is," she says nervously. "He's not coming."

"Did something happen?" Luka asks worriedly.

"He isn't feeling so well. It may be… food poisoning?" Marinette says with a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry you had to go all the way here."

Luka shakes his head. "It happens. I just hope he's all right."

"Yeah… well, I should… go then," Marinette says, her confidence diminishing with every passing second. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Actually," Luka says, carefully putting his camera back in its bag. "This photoshoot was all I had for the day. I was supposed to do a shoot with some models from London, but their flight got delayed until later tonight, so I'm pretty much free for the rest of the day. Do you want to hang out with me for a little while?"

"Sure!" Marinette says a little too quickly. "What did you have in mind?"

"There's this art exhibit I've been wanting to go to. It's only in Paris until next week. This might be the only time I'll be able to go," Luka says with a smile. "They said that artists from all over Paris submitted their work, and only three hundred pieces made the cut."

The words _art exhibit_ make Marinette's stomach church uncomfortably. She immediately thinks of Theo, and how she hasn't been able to go to a single art exhibit since their breakup because of the painful memories that cloud her mind if she even gave it a five-second thought.

But then she remembers what Adrien told her on the day they baked cookies together, and maybe, this might just be the thing to help her move on.

"That sounds perfect," Marinette says, hurrying over to Luka's side so that they can start walking towards the exhibit. "I haven't been to an art exhibit in so long."

"This one is called _L'amour de Silence._ It's apparently about that old Parisian folktale about a boy who gave in to an akuma, a butterfly that carries ill will."

"Oh, I know that story! It's one of my favorites," Marinette says. "Apparently, he only gave in because an evil being was threatening the girl he loved."

"That's right, so he gave up his voice in order to protect her. In the end, he never got the chance to tell her how he felt," Luka finishes. "It's a sad story that centers around heartbreak and unrequited love, which actually makes for some good art pieces."

Luka and Marinette soon make it to the venue, which turns out to be a nice, two-floor gallery filled with photographs, paintings, sculptures, and all other means of art imaginable.

Luka leads her over to the first piece on their right: a digital drawing of Silence playing a mandolin for the girl he loves. Underneath the painting reads, _Clair comme une note de musique_. (Translation: _Clear Like a Musical Note_).

"This painting is supposed to take place after Silence lost his voice," Luka explains. "He learned how to play different instruments to try to find another way of telling her that he's in love with her."

Marinette follows Luka around, listening intently as he explains the meaning of each piece they come across. She didn't mean to compare Luka to Theo, but she can't help but notice how different they are. While Luka is knowledgeable of the history behind the art, Theo is knowledgeable of the technique behind it. While Luka eagerly tells her about the story the painting is portraying, Theo eagerly tells her about which tools were used in the making of it.

The main difference, however, is how Luka is there to admire each artist for their skills, while Theo is there to compare his skills to each artist.

As she and Luka continue to go through the gallery, Marinette starts feeling a little more comfortable as the seconds tick by. She starts opening up a little more, even expressing her own points of view.

One of the very last paintings of the exhibit before them is a very vague and peculiar one, titled, _Toujours sans voix_. (Translation: _Forever Without a Voice_). Silence in his civilian and akumatized forms are drawn in the front from the shoulder up, both smiling sadly, and placed on opposite ends of the painting. The girl he's in love with makes an appearance as well, having been painted right in the very middle. Their backs are facing each other, which is what makes the painting so different from the other art pieces they came across. Silence has always been looking at her whether her back his turned to him or not; this is the first one where he isn't.

"This painting is apparently all the buzz at this exhibit, since no one really knows what its true interpretation is," Luka explains. "I think it's meant to show that no matter what form Silence takes, be it civilian or akumatized, he will always love that girl."

Marinette continues to stare at the painting. Luka's interpretation seems very agreeable, but it just doesn't sound entirely right to her. The girl, rather than standing still, looks as though she's walking away from him.

"Actually," Marinette begins, tilting her head in confusion. "If you look very closely, it looks like that girl is walking away."

Luka tilts his head the same way as Marinette. "You're right," he says. "I missed that completely."

"I think it means he knows he has to move on," Marinette says. When she goes quiet again, Luka urges her to continue. "Silence realizes that he has to let her go. In all the previous artwork, he's seen chasing after her or trying to get her to notice him, but this is the first time we see him walk away from her despite us knowing how much he loves her."

"He had his voice taken away when he was akumatized, but he never really had a voice in his civilian form in the first place because he never confessed his love to her," she continues. "I think the painting is him coming to accept the fact that she will never know how he feels. And from the way he's smiling while looking away, he seems all right with that."

"That's a really good way of looking at it," Luka says, shifting his focus from the painting to the black-haired girl next to him.

"I was just thinking that if Silence already dropped many hints that he likes her, and the girl is still oblivious to the fact that he loves her, then she just isn't interested. She just never saw him as a potential lover," Marinette says. "He will always think of her as his first love, but eventually, he has to move on."

Marinette's last sentence felt more like advice to herself rather than an explanation of the painting. Nothing can erase the fact that Theo will always be her first love, but he walked away, and Marinette has to stop looking for answers. She has to come to terms with the fact that it's time to let go.

For the first time in months, she lets out a sigh of relief.

After admiring a few more of the art pieces, Luka takes his phone out to check the time. "Already five in the afternoon? The day really flew by, huh?" he chuckles.

"It really did," Marinette sighs sadly.

At first, when Luka invited her out, she expected things to be awkward and wanted the day to zip by to quickly get over it. However, within the first few minutes spent with him, she noticed just how comfortable he makes her feel, and how easy he is to talk to. She didn't want their "date" to come to an end just yet.

"Do you… maybe want to get something to eat?" Luka asks, snapping Marinette out of her thoughts.

She looks up at him, and even though he seems as cool and collected as always, she could tell that he's a little nervous and hopeful from the way he drums his fingers against the side of his leg.

"I'd love that, actually," Marinette replies, and Luka instantly smiles.

"I know this really good place."

While Luka tells her all about the restaurant, they both start heading towards the exit, and just like Silence, Marinette feels like she's finally moved on. And when she passes by a sculpture made by her ex-boyfriend, her heart doesn't drop like she expects it to.

She simply walks right past it.

* * *

"So? How did it go?"

Adrien asks as he flips through his book. Marinette shuts the middle door behind her and slowly walks over to where Adrien is sitting on the couch. She has on a look on her face that practically screams, _did today really happen?_

Once she reaches the couch, she plops onto the spot next to him and says, "Adrien?"

"Hm?" Adrien answers, closing his book and placing it on top of his coffee table.

Marinette goes silent. And then—

"_Thank you_!"

She jumps up to grin at him, and Adrien realizes that this is the happiest she'd been since the start of their one hundred days together. It's a bit sad to know that she's happy not because of their developed friendship, but because he played the wingman card and helped her get a date with her crush.

As if reading his mind, Marinette says, "I hope you don't think I'm happy just because of Luka."

"Huh?" Adrien blinks.

Without another second to lose, Marinette gives him a hug, albeit an awkward one since they were sitting on the couch.

"You're a good friend, Adrien," she says after releasing the hug. "I didn't think that we'd actually become friends throughout these one hundred days, but I'm glad I gave you a chance. Now, I've got to try my best to help you get back with Kagami."

"I'm glad to hear that," Adrien smiles. "So, what did you guys do?"

"Oh, where do I even start?!" Marinette exclaims, sitting up on the couch.

Adrien happily listens to her as she tells him about her unofficial date with Luka, but he can't help but feel a little sad inside.

He and Marinette have only become friends not too long ago, and selfish as it sounds, he feels like he's already lost her. Talking to her is never boring, baking sweets with her is fun, and having breakfast with her is something to look forward to every day. He truly hopes that these don't get taken away from him all because he decided to play wingman. He still wanted her company for the remaining eighty-three days together.

"—Adrien? Are you all right?"

"Huh?" Adrien blinks, snapping back to reality. "Oh… yeah, I'm fine. Keep going."

* * *

**A/N:** _L'amour de Silence_ was very loosely based on (you guessed it) the episode "Silencer" in Season 3! While I wanted to make Luka and Marinette's "date" a little longer, this is an Adrinette fanfic at the end of the day, so I stopped myself from writing more. Get ready for a bit of Jealous!Adrien next chapter!

I also apologize if you think the plot is very quick-paced. I planned for this story to only have fourteen or fifteen chapters, so I needed to set everything up as soon as possible.

Thank you to everyone who added this story to their favorites and/or alerts, and a big thank you to those who left a review last chapter! It really means a lot to me!

Thank you for reading!

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**


	5. Crushed

**the thing about second chances**

_chapter five_

**crushed**

"All done!"

Adrien turns to the sound of Marinette's voice to find her standing arms akimbo, admiring the big whiteboard she put up on the wall separating their rooms. He walks over to her to have a look at it, chuckling at the little drawings she made of the two of them in the blank leftover space on the bottom.

Marinette had drawn one hundred squares with the numbers starting from one hundred down to one to keep track of how many days they have left together. The numbers one hundred to seventy-seven have been marked with an _x_, leaving them with no more than seventy-six days together.

After spending almost three weeks together, Adrien is so happy to say that they've gotten quite close, but the loneliness is slowly starting to creep up to him as Marinette is spending less time with him and more with Luka.

Selfish as it sounds, he wishes he hadn't introduced them to each other so early on. Once the one hundred days are up, he doubts she'd want anything to do with him.

"Keeping track of the days?" Adrien asks with fake enthusiasm.

Marinette nods. "I don't want to wake up one day and suddenly realize we only have five days left together," she says, and Adrien feels absolutely touched. His heart may or may not have skipped a beat back there. "So, now we know we have seventy-six days left together."

Adrien and Marinette return to the table, where their breakfast lays half-eaten. Marinette had made some chocolate-filled croissants for breakfast, and it took all of Adrien's willpower not to gobble them all up in seconds.

"I'm seriously going to gain some weight because of you," Adrien says, finishing up the rest of his fifth croissant.

"Oh no, we can't possibly have that, can we?" Marinette says, taking the plate away just _seconds_ before Adrien can take another one. He lets out an audible gasp and looks as though he's about to cry when Marinette takes a bite out of one. "I guess I'm going to have to finish these all by myself."

"Hey, no fair," Adrien pouts, looking like a kicked puppy. Marinette laughs at his reaction before setting the plate back down on the table.

"Eat up," she says. "Eating is the true joy of life."

"I one-thousand percent agree," Adrien says, swiping a croissant off the plate and taking a huge bite out of it. While eating it, he takes a quick glance at the clock to find it already nearing ten-thirty. "We should probably get going, the photoshoot's at eleven."

"I'm not going today," Marinette says, looking down with a shy smile on her face.

"Oh, does Alya have a day off today?" Adrien asks, shoving the rest of his croissant in his mouth.

"No," she answers simply. "I have a date with Luka tonight."

Upon hearing this, Adrien chokes on his croissant, and Marinette instinctively gets up on her feet, fully prepared to give him the Heimlich maneuver. She sits back down when Adrien puts up a hand, letting her know that he's all right.

"You have," he croaks, coughing a few times before continuing, "a date?"

"Mhm," Marinette nods. "He asked me out yesterday, after your photoshoot."

_No wonder she was all giddy until we got home_, Adrien thinks.

He thinks back to the past few days, and he comes to the realization that the things he considered "little" were, in fact, quite the opposite.

He recalls the subtle glances they shot at each other, when it used to only be Marinette doing so. He recalls seeing Luka ask for Marinette's advice more often, when he knows very well which pictures were best. He recalls seeing Luka hand over his camera to Marinette, when he _never_ let _anyone_ touch his camera for more than five seconds. He _especially_ recalls feeling his face scrunch up when Luka had put his camera strap around Marinette's neck, then placed his arms around her as he showed her which buttons did what.

All Adrien was able to think when he saw that was, _He could've just shown it to her without doing all that…_

"I see. That's good. I'm happy for you," Adrien answers, and as much as he wants it to be true, deep down, he knows it's a lie. "What time is your date?"

"He's picking me up at six," Marinette says. "I know I have plenty of time until then, but I don't want to go to Agreste Fashion, rush home, then rush while getting ready, risking him getting here before I'm all done, you know? I want to prepare myself at a good pace."

"I completely understand," Adrien nods, getting up to wash his dishes. "I'll see you later, then?"

"Of course! I want to tell you all about it later tonight, so don't sleep too early," Marinette exclaims, quickly grabbing a paper bag from her cabinet. She packs up the rest of the chocolate croissants, folding the top shut once she's done.

"I'll probably be home before you," Adrien says, placing the just-washed plate on the drying rack. He quickly washes his hands again, wiping them dry with a paper towel. "Just knock on my door when you're ready."

"Will do," Marinette replies.

Suddenly realizing how close she is based on the volume of her voice, Adrien turns around, shocked to see her holding up the paper bag to his face.

"A little snack to get you through the day?" she smiles, and Adrien takes it with bright eyes.

"This is perfect, thanks," he says, unravelling it to take eat another croissant.

"Don't finish it before you get to work," she rolls her eyes, smiling.

"No promises," Adrien says, biting into one.

"Go on now," Marinette says, pointing at her wrist. "You're going to be late. Time's ticking."

"Right, right," Adrien says as he's being pushed out the door. When Marinette successfully manages to get him past it, he laughs, "Alright, alright! I'm going."

"Hurry up, don't make Mr. Fu wait!" she exclaims, making him laugh.

"I'll hurry down," Adrien says. "Have fun on your date, Marinette."

"Thanks," she says, while waving goodbye.

Adrien turns around and starts walking towards the elevator, but it's only about halfway through when Marinette suddenly calls out his name.

"Adrien!" she exclaims, and he turns around completely.

"Is there something wrong?" he asks.

"No, nothing, it's just…" Marinette begins. "Um, what color do you think I'd look best in?"

Adrien stands still for a second, pondering her question. He's seen Marinette is a vast array of colors even within the short amount of time she's been there, ones past the defaults. He's seen teal, periwinkle, chartreuse, marmalade, puce, butterscotch, toffee, charcoal.

All except shades of red.

Ironically, red is the color that defined her most.

It was bold, it was energetic, it was passionate, it was joyful. It practically _screamed_ Marinette—he wonders why she never wore that color.

He's about to change that.

"Red," he tells her, and he watches her eyes widen in shock.

"Red?" she echoes. "Like, crimson? Scarlet?"

"Like…" Adrien thinks for a second before stupidly muttering, "uh… you know… ladybugs."

"…Ladybugs," Marinette repeats. She then bursts into laughter, making Adrien's face turn red as, you guessed it, a ladybug.

"You asked me a question, and I answered," he huffs.

"No need to get so pissy," she laughs. "Go on ahead. Thanks again, I'll keep it in mind!"

With that, she waves to him one last time before shutting the door. Adrien turns back around and heads on over to the elevator, wondering if she even took his advice seriously.

"Oh, well," he says out loud.

At the end of the day, Luka's opinion mattered, not his.

* * *

Adrien is very clearly unfocused throughout the entirety of the photoshoot, and everyone is very much aware.

"Adrien, you have to smile," Nino says from the sidelines, massaging his temples.

"Oh, sorry," Adrien says, forcing himself to make a closed-mouth smile.

"And… perfect," the photographer says, quickly snapping the shot. He quickly looks up from his camera to give the blond a kind smile. "Good job, Adrien. That last one turned out well, I'm sure."

Immediately upon seeing Luka's face, Adrien visibly scowls, and Nino is quick to notice. The manager turns to see Alya leaning on a clothing rack, and she merely smirks at him when they have eye contact.

"Oh, he's got it _bad_," she mouths to him, making Nino stifle his laughter.

Vincent is just about to tear out all his hair, but the makeup artists and assistant photographers successfully manage to call him down. Luka carefully plans out his shots, taking them as quickly as possible before Adrien's smile fades back into a scowl or pout or huff. When the session finally ends, Adrien is excused as models Wayhem and Lila make their way onto the set.

Adrien marches into his dressing room and sits in front of his vanity mirror, slamming his head onto the table. He hears the door open and close behind him, not even needing to look up to know who it is.

"Alright, what happened this time?" Nino asks behind him.

"I," Adrien begins. "Give up."

The blond lifts his head up from the table, and Nino stifles his laughter for the second time that day when he sees a big red spot on his best friend's forehead, a result from slamming his head a little too hard. Adrien grabs the brown paper bag sitting on his desk and whips out a chocolate croissant to stuff into his mouth.

"Ooh, which bakery is that from?" Nino asks, taking one out of the bag when Adrien offers it to him.

"Marinette made them," Adrien answers with his mouth full as Nino takes a bite. "You can get some at her parents' bakery, though. She just recreates the recipes at home."

"So, she makes you breakfast, huh?" Nino teases, finishing off the rest of the snack.

"She makes it for both of us," Adrien corrects, noticing the tone his voice and the smirk on his face.

"If you say so," the manager says, holding his hands up. "Mind telling what went on back there? I've never seen you so out of it before."

"I just have a lot on my mind," Adrien answers, crumpling up the paper bag and tossing it into the little garbage can next to his vanity. "My thoughts have been haunting me since morning."

"What kind of thoughts?" Nino asks, leaning against the wall.

Adrien hesitates. "You're going to make a huge deal out of it," he says.

"I won't," Nino says, and Adrien's just about to tell him, when he quietly adds, "unless it has something to do with Marinette."

"Okay, _wow_," Adrien groans. "I'm not telling you, then."

"So, it _does_ have something to do with her," Nino laughs, walking over to his best friend. He slaps a hand on his shoulder, making the blond yelp in pain. "You definitely have to tell me now."

"No."

"Oh, come _on_! Okay, no stupid comments. Seriously."

"For real?"

"Swear."

After a moment's hesitation, Adrien finally says, "She has a date with Luka tonight."

His manager immediately perks up and laughs. "Oh, you are _so_—" Nino stops himself when he sees the look on Adrien's face. "—uh, I-I mean… And what about it?"

"Well, you see," Adrien says, making awkward hand gestures to try to put his feelings into words. "She's my friend."

"Wrong. I'm your friend."

Adrien furrows his eyebrows. "You said _no_ stupid comments—"

"Hear me out," Nino begins. "I'm your friend, Alya's your friend, and so is Chloe. But Marinette doesn't seem to fall into that same category, does she?"

"But she does," Adrien replies, eyebrow raised, wondering where exactly his manager's getting to.

"Oh, but she doesn't really," Nino says. "She seems to fall under something else. It's quite clear that she's a tier higher than us three. Like, S Tier friend. S for Special. Or Superior, but that one hurts a little, not going to lie."

"_What_ are you talking about?" Adrien asks. "All three of you fall under S Tier as well."

"Then, Marinette's rank goes up to SS Tier. We can keep going. There's an infinite amount of _S_'s I can add to it," Nino laughs. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad or anything. Just an observation."

"Well, it's wrong. And _as I was saying_," Adrien says with much force. "Marinette and I _just_ got on good terms. If she and Luka decide to make it official over the summer, then I've just lost the first friend I've made in years, you get what I mean? It sounds pretty selfish, I know, but…"

"No, no, I understand," Nino says. "I don't blame you for feeling that way."

"It's just… I don't know. Luka's a really nice guy, but I can't help but feel a bit upset when I think about it," Adrien says. "After she told me that they were going out on a date tonight, it's bugged me all morning. I might just go insane waiting for her to get home."

And right then and there, an idea pops into his mind.

"Oh, no. I know that look," Nino says, facepalming. "Please don't."

"Nino," Adrien says with an innocent smile. "Do I have anything planned for later?"

Nino sighs, and rolls his eyes. "You want me to cancel them, don't you?" he asks, taking out his planner and business phone.

"Please," Adrien says. "And free up Alya's schedule, too."

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Alya begins, a smirk playing on her lips. "You free up my schedule and practically kidnap me because you want me to disguise you so that you can follow Luka and Marinette while they're on their date?"

"_And_," Adrien adds, "I need _you_ to be my fake date."

Alya shuts the door to her apartment, allowing Adrien to drop the baseball cap and sunglasses he wore to avoid being recognized. After taking their shoes off and making their way over to the stylist's living room, Adrien and Nino take a seat on her couch, awaiting her answer. Alya remains standing, arms crossed over her chest and smirk very evident on her face.

"That's not happening," Alya says before letting out a laugh. "Marinette and I are best friends. She'll know it's me the second she lays her eyes on me."

"What?! Come on, Alya! I don't want to do this alone!" Adrien exclaims, getting up from his seat.

"If you don't want to do it alone, then bring someone else along with you," Alya suggests. "Just don't ask Nino. He's way too obvious."

"Sad, but true," Nino nods, making Adrien groan in frustration.

"I don't think I'm close enough to anyone else to ask them to be my date. And I don't think I'd want to go as far as to ask Aurore, or Mireille, or—" Adrien stops. He suddenly perks up and looks up at his manager and stylist with a sheepish smile. "Um… what do you guys think about me asking Chloe?"

Adrien notices Alya and Nino flinch at the name of his childhood friend.

"I know she's going to be hard to work with, but she's still my friend at the end of the day," Adrien says.

"I never thought the day would come that _Adrien Agreste_ would use someone for his own interest," Nino says, shaking his head disapprovingly, albeit in a teasing fashion. "But to be fair, she's probably the only one who'd free up her schedule just to spend time with you. Even if spending time with you meant putting on a disguise to follow the girl that you're probably starting to have a crush on."

Adrien's jaw drops.

"She's just a _friend_," Adrien says, putting a huge amount of emphasis on the word "friend".

"An _S Tier_ friend," Nino corrects.

"Oh, a Special one?" Alya asks, bringing a hand up to her mouth as Nino nods. "Ouch. Kind of hurts to be an A Tier friend, Adrien."

"See? Even _she_ knows that we're in A Tier!" Nino exclaims, giving the model a look that practically screams _I told you so_. Adrien slaps his forehead.

"Okay, I do _not_ have a crush on Marinette," he says. He then continues in a softer voice, "You guys know who I still love."

Alya and Nino flinch, and they look at each other guiltily.

"But Marinette is a very precious friend," Adrien continues. "I just want to make sure she's all right and truly happy with Luka."

"I want that too, considering she _is_ my best friend," Alya says. She then sighs, "Fine. Go ahead and call Chloe. I can handle insults in exchange for my girl's happiness."

* * *

"_Ridiculous_! What are _they_ doing here?!"

Adrien sighs in exasperation when Chloe immediately makes a scene upon stepping foot into Alya's apartment.

"When you asked me to go on a date with you, I thought it'd just be you and me, Adrien," Chloe huffs, crossing her arms.

"Chloe, just hear me out," Adrien says. "I did ask you to go on a date with me, but it's a _fake_ date. We're going to be disguised to spy on…" He takes a deep breath before quietly saying, "…Marinette."

Chloe's eyes widen upon hearing that name.

"That _nobody_?" Chloe spits.

"She's a very special friend to me, and I just want to make sure that she's happy with this guy," Adrien says. "Please, Chloe?"

"But Adrien—"

"_Please_?"

Chloe looks up at her childhood friend, and sighs sadly, feeling her own heart drop at the desperation in his voice. He has a place in his heart for the Ice Queen Kagami and the Baker's Daughter Marinette, yet it seems he never has any place for her.

"Fine, I'll do it," Chloe says. "You seem to care a lot about this girl. Even if I hate her for taking you away from me, I'll do it for you, Adrien."

Adrien displays a look of shock upon hearing her last sentence. "Chloe… what do you mean—" he starts.

"I don't get why we have to get ready in this shabby apartment, though," Chloe interrupts as she eyes the entire room, making Alya scowl. Nino holds the stylist back from charging at the blonde. "Why couldn't we have just stayed at the building?"

"Marinette's date works at Agreste Fashion, we couldn't risk accidentally bumping into him," Nino explains. "Besides, Alya has everything she needs right here. You don't have to worry."

"Whatever," Chloe says, crossing her arms. "Let's just get this over with."

"We have to hurry," Alya says, pointing at her watch. "We don't have much time. What time did Marinette say her date was?"

"She said that he's picking her up at six," Adrien says.

"That's our time limit," Nino suggests, setting an alarm on his phone. "That leaves us a little less than two hours to get the outfits, hair, and makeup done. We've got to work fast."

"I got this, don't worry," Alya grins, gesturing for Chloe to follow her. "This way, Chloe."

Chloe grumbles incoherently as she walks into the stylist's home office, gasping dramatically when Alya opens up the door.

The floor is littered with different squares of fabric, colors ranging from soft pastels to flashy neons. Three out of five mannequins are wearing dresses that are halfway done, which Chloe hates to admit are quite beautifully detailed and unique. The recycling bin in the corner is overflowing with draft paper, colored pencils are scattered all over the floors, the sewing machine is practically drowning in quarter-done tops, wigs are found in the most random of places; Chloe can go on and on about the state of this room. Alya's known for being the most organized stylist at Agreste Fashion—_anyone_ would be shocked to see how much of a mess she can make back at home.

"Ugh, don't you ever clean up in here?" Chloe asks, making Alya roll her eyes.

"You have _no idea_ how hard styling and designing actually is," Alya grumbles, motioning for the blonde to have a seat in front of the vanity mirror. "You can clean up, but it's only a matter of time until it becomes a complete mess again."

"Is that so," Chloe says as she sits on the white chair. "So, what brands are you giving me to wear? Besides Agreste, I'll have you know my favorite is _obviously_ Bourgeois. Or Rosa."

"Well, you're going to have to deal with not wearing one of those. I'm giving you my originals," Alya says, sliding open her surprisingly large, walk-in closet. Chloe watches curiously as she picks out five tops, two skirts, a pair of pants, a jumpsuit, and two summer dresses. "I have about ten different outfit ideas in my head. Want to model for me until I find the right one?"

"You don't even need to ask," Chloe says, grabbing the clothes from her hands.

"You can change in the washroom," Alya says, pointing at the door on the other side of the room. "Oh, and remove your makeup while you're in there."

* * *

"Bridgette is ready!"

"Ew, what kind of tacky name is Bridgette?"

Adrien turns around, immediately feeling his breath get caught in his throat at the sight of her. Chloe stands in front of him with long, black hair, serving as a contrast to her ocean blue eyes; a striking combination she manages to pull off incredibly well. Rather than having her usual great amount of makeup on, Alya opted for a more natural look, which included no more than foundation, powder, lip gloss, eyebrow pencil, and eyeliner. She wore a loose midnight blue v-neck spaghetti-strap top over a tight white long-sleeved shirt, which Alya paired off with a black, button-up skirt that ends mid-thigh, showing off her long legs. Midnight blue ankle socks and white canvas sneakers cover her feet, completing the girly yet effortless look Alya was going for.

Adrien's never looked at his childhood friend _that_ way; of course, he's always found her beautiful, but now… with simple makeup and casual clothing, she looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Ch-Chloe?" Adrien stutters.

"It looks bad, doesn't it?" Chloe asks before turning to Alya once more. "I _told_ you I'd look much better in—"

"No, no, it looks great. You look pretty. _Really_ pretty, actually," Adrien says, catching the blonde (or brunette now) completely off-guard. "I'm one-hundred percent convinced now that you can pull off any style."

He's expecting her to say something along the lines of, "Of course I can!"

But instead, she smiles shyly.

"Thanks," Chloe says with a little smile. And there she was—the timid eight-year-old girl he grew up with, the Chloe he knew before she started putting up walls.

"Now, it's your turn, Felix," Alya says, pushing Adrien towards the temporary dressing room.

"Felix? Bridgette? Where are you getting these names?" Adrien asks.

"They're characters from this superhero show that never saw the light of day. I just thought their names were cool," she shrugs, giving him one final push.

Alya shuts the door upon entering the room, rushing right into her walk-in closet to go straight to work. She quickly picks out a pair of black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, a denim jacket, fake round glasses, and black canvas sneakers.

"Done. Here you go," she grins, shoving them into his chest.

"You were waiting for this day, weren't you?" Adrien laughs as he takes the clothing out of her hands.

"Oh, I was," Alya says. "I've always wanted to dress you guys up in casual clothing."

After a quick glance at the clock on her vanity, Adrien walks into the ensuite washroom and quickly gets changed. No more than five minutes later, he walks out, and Alya grins excitedly when she sees how good he looks in the attire she put together. She then motions for him to sit on the chair near the mirror, to which Adrien obliges.

"Hm, I originally wanted to make you a redhead, but I'll make you a brunet instead," the stylist says, taking the one sitting on top of her cabinet. Before making her way back to Adrien, she quickly plucks a little boxed case from her shelf and hands it to him. "Almost forgot—before I get started on your hair, put these colored contacts on."

"What? Why?" Adrien complains.

"I'm decreasing your chances of getting recognized. Suck it up for little while," Alya sneers, taking his hand and slapping the box in his palm. "Blue eyes will do, since I'm out of brown—ugh, it would've been perfect."

Adrien pouts but complies, snapping open the box and taking a contact lens out. He tilts his head upwards, placing a contact in his eye and blinking a couple of times to make it go into place. He does the same for the other eye, and Alya smiles, giving him a thumbs up.

"Perfect," she says. "Now, for your hair…"

Adrien watches in the mirror as Alya puts all his blond hair into a cap. Once every single blond strand is tucked away, she puts on the brown wig and goes straight to styling it, opting for a messy and voluminous look.

"Hey, Alya?" Adrien asks as he watches her style his hair. "Do you think I'm being a bit much?"

"Yes," she answers without missing a beat. "But too late to back out now."

"Do I really make you feel like an A Tier friend?" he asks, making her laugh.

"We were just teasing," she replies, very slightly spiking up one side of the brown wig. "We know you love us."

"Don't forget that," Adrien says.

"We won't," Alya smiles, making the finishing touches. She takes a step back to admire her work, nodding in satisfaction. "I think we're all good. Let's go see what Bridgette thinks."

With a nod, Adrien gets up from his seat and follows her back into the living room, where Chloe and Nino sit away from each other, playing on their phones. Alya clears her throat, making the two look up at her.

"I present to you… Felix!" Alya exclaims just as Adrien walks into the room.

"Wow, you make a great brunet, too," Chloe says, getting a little too close to his face for comfort.

"Geez, you always manage to look so pretty," Nino jokes, narrowly dodging the couch pillow Adrien throws in his direction. "Good job, Alya."

"Thank you," she jokingly bows.

"You two better get going. It's six _now_," Nino says, his phone letting out an alarm the moment his sentence ended. "Knowing him, he's probably right on time. He probably just knocked on her door."

"That leaves you both enough time to get to the date location first," Alya says. "That way, you wouldn't need to run around looking for them."

"Who _is_ this mystery guy?" Chloe asks, tucking some strands of black hair behind her ear. "He works at Agreste Fashion, right?"

"Uh, I don't think you'll know him by his name. You should just see for yourself," Nino says, recalling all the many times she's vocally expressed how much she didn't care to meet the newcomers. Heck, Alya's been working at Agreste Fashion for over a year now, and Chloe only acknowledged her existence five months ago when Alya put together an outfit she liked.

"Thank you so much again, Alya," Adrien says with a wide grin. "You've been a _huge_ help."

"Anything for my favorite blond," Alya winks. "Or brunet. What you will."

With a laugh, Adrien grabs Chloe's hand and hurries over to the door, but he noticeably freezes while putting his shoes on.

Quick to notice this, Nino massages his temples and sighs, "What is it this time?"

Adrien smiles sheepishly. "…I don't know where they're going," he says quietly, cheeks tinted pink in embarrassment.

"You," Alya starts as she takes her phone out of her pocket. "Are hopeless. You're lucky she's my best friend."

Alya types away at her phone, innocently wishing Marinette good luck on her date and casually asking where Luka's taking her. No more than thirty seconds later, she receives a reply.

"You'll find them here," Alya says, sending Adrien a link to Google Maps. "Better hurry, they're on their way. Good luck."

* * *

"_Ice skating_? Are you kidding me?"

Chloe grumbles as she sits on a bench while Adrien ties her skates' laces for her. She looks down at her childhood friend and first love, thinking about how this is the first time in a while since they've gone out together, just the two of them.

Her shoulders droop at the thought; they used to see each other every day as children. Their hangouts obviously became a little less frequent as they grew older, what with other things in life getting in the way, but it hurts to think that after _so_ long, Adrien only wanted to go out with her to spy on someone.

She sighs.

Experiencing the feeling of caring about someone _way more_ than they care about you is a lot more heartbreaking than it sounds.

"There you go, all done," Adrien says as he looks up from her skates to flash her a smile. He then gets up and holds out a hand for her to take, nodding towards the skating rink, "Come on."

Chloe wordlessly takes his hand and follows him to the rink, gulping at the sight of the ice. She stops by the entrance, shaky hands gripping the side boards tightly.

"Chloe? Is there something wrong?" Adrien asks worriedly, making her suck in a deep breath and hide her fear.

"Of course not," she answers sassily, stepping one foot onto the ice.

Once she's gained balance, she brings her other foot onto the ice, smiling proudly at herself managing to stay up. However, upon letting go of the boards, a kid rushes past her, surprising her and making her take a step back. She lets out a cry, flailing her arms around animatedly as she finds herself falling backwards, but Adrien dives forward, catching her before her head can make contact with the ice.

"You can't skate?" Adrien asks, helping her get back up on her feet. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know, I was hoping you knew?" Chloe mumbles as she fixes her hair. "I was hoping I'd be able to fake it this time around…"

While smoothing out her skirt, Chloe notices an outstretched hand near her face, and she looks up to find Adrien smiling down at her.

"I'll teach you then," he grins. "I'll make sure you don't fall."

Nodding, Chloe takes his hand, and Adrien takes her other one, skating backwards as he guides her around the ice rink. She laughs and smiles as they skate, and Adrien thinks that this is the first time in a while since he's seen her so genuinely happy.

"Hey, isn't that her over there?" Chloe suddenly asks, causing Adrien to whip his head around.

There, by the entrance, are Marinette and Luka indeed. They've just entered the rink, and Adrien tries so hard to turn away from them, but he just can't.

Because Marinette's wearing red.

A huge grin makes its way onto his face; he didn't think she'd actually take his advice seriously. But he's so happy to see her in a red beret, and a plain black sweater over a simple red midi dress. Her simplicity is what has always made her stand out.

"She's going out with your photographer?" Chloe suddenly asks.

Adrien turns his head to look down at her in shock. "You actually _know_ who he is?" he asks incredulously. "You barely _ever_ pay attention to the employees at the company, new _or_ old."

"I only pay attention to the ones worthy of my attention," Chloe says, flipping some hair over her shoulder. "He's _cute_. _And_ he makes me look good in pictures."

"Of course," Adrien chuckles.

Adrien and Chloe keep a close eye on the couple, but the former can't help but grimace every time they pass by them. Luka's always saying something that makes her laugh, or holding her waist as they skate, or brushing strands of hair behind her ear. He sure likes physical contact, and he must be a real comedian for Marinette to be laughing so much. And did he just lift her up into the air?! Her skates could accidentally injure another skater, what was he thinking?!

"Are you all right, Adrien?" Chloe asks, raising an eyebrow.

Adrien turns away from the couple for a moment to look at her. "Peachy," he says through gritted teeth before turning back to make somewhat of a glare in Luka and Marinette's general direction.

"They're going to notice you if you keep glaring at them," Chloe says flatly.

"I'm not glaring at them," Adrien says, letting go of one of her hands. "I just have something in my eye."

He proceeds to place his round glasses on top of his head as he furiously rubs his eye as Chloe watches him with a deadpan expression on her face. However, once he puts his hand down, she audibly gasps, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped.

"What? Something wrong?" Adrien asks innocently.

"Y-your _contact_," Chloe stutters, pointing at his right eye. "It's _gone_!"

"What do you mean—_oh_," Adrien stops skating when he notices a blue dot sitting on the knuckles of the hand he used to rub his eye.

He automatically lets go of Chloe's hands upon seeing it, and not expecting this, she dives forward into his chest, causing him to make awkward body movements to try to keep them standing. The two people behind them didn't expect the sudden stop, and by the time they realized it, it was too late; they'd slammed right into them.

The four of them fall onto the ice, groaning in pain. Adrien is the first to recover, and he loudly gasps upon seeing his glasses and single blue contact lens on the ice. He holds back a yell when a someone skates over the contact, slicing it in half. He holds back another one when someone runs over his glasses, snapping off a temple.

"Alya's going to kill me," Adrien squeaks as he quickly gathers the pieces of his glasses, shoving them into his pocket.

"Ah! We're _so_ sorry!"

He freezes at the sound of the voice, slowly turning his around to find the very couple they were supposed to avoid encountering on the ground next to them. Adrien quickly helps Chloe get up on her feet, making sure to cover his face so that they wouldn't see his different colored eyes. He decides to take a peek, pursing his lips as he watches Luka help Marinette up.

"Ugh, you should b—" Chloe stops mid-sentence upon realizing who it is. In a slightly higher-pitched voice, she exclaims, "I-I mean, no worries! It was all our fault! Right, _Felix_?"

"…Right," Adrien answers in a deeper voice, looking away. "Sorry about that."

"We weren't paying attention, so we're part to blame," Luka says kindly. "I hope you didn't get too hurt."

"We didn't, don't worry!" Chloe says with a very obviously fake girlish laugh. "Well, enjoy your evening! Sorry again!"

With that, she grabs Adrien's arm and tries to pull him away, but her inability to skate doesn't allow it. She instead falls forward, dragging him down with her as they crash onto the ice a second time. Adrien stops himself from burying his face in his hands.

"Chlo—uh, Bridgette…" Adrien says as he runs a hand through his hair in embarrassment. "You know you can't skate."

"Do you need any help?" Marinette asks, bending slightly to offer Chloe a hand.

"Not from—" Chloe begins, but she's quickly interrupted by a cough from Adrien. With a click of her tongue, she forces herself to smile and answers sweetly, "Oh! Thank you so much!"

While Marinette helps Chloe up, Luka helps Adrien, who tries really hard to avoid eye contact in fear of his photographer recognizing him. With his glasses broken and a contact lens gone, it shouldn't be too hard to put the pieces together. And if Marinette were to find out he disguised himself just to keep an eye on them—oh, at that point, he might as well just _die_.

Once back up on their feet, Adrien looks down, pretending to dust himself off as an excuse to avoid looking at either of them in the eye.

"Thanks for the help," he says, feigning aloofness.

He then grabs Chloe's hand, ready to make a quick escape, but right before skating off, he accidentally looks right into Marinette's eyes. He internally curses when he sees her display a look of both shock and confusion from the corner of his eye.

"Do I… know you?" came Marinette's expected question.

Adrien noticeably freezes. Chloe squeezes his hand as her way of telling him not to panic. Fully believing that allowing Adrien to answer could potentially blow their cover, she answers the question instead despite knowing that it wasn't intended for her.

"Us? I don't think so," Chloe laughs. "Maybe you were thinking of someone else?"

"O-oh! No, not you, but your, uh…" Marinette stutters, stopping herself. She wouldn't want to think that she was trying to hit on another girl's boyfriend. "Never mind. Sorry again, enjoy the rest of your evening!"

Adrien and Chloe watch as the couple skate away. Once they're out of earshot, Chloe crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow at her date.

"I'm a disaster," he says.

"You think?" she scoffs. "You're lucky you brought me along."

"I really am.

Adrien turns away from her to look for Luka and Marinette once more, going into a state of panic when he can't spot them in the crowd. With a sigh, Chloe takes his cheeks in her hands and turns them in the direction of said couple, who are currently making their way out of the skating rink.

"What would you do without me?" Chloe says, shaking her head.

"Trust me, I'd be a complete mess," Adrien laughs, taking her hands and pulling her forward.

"Better hurry," she says, nodding towards the exit. Adrien turns around to find Luka and Marinette returning their skates at the counter. "I think it's time for dinner."

* * *

"Oh, the couple from the skating rink is here, too."

Marinette turns around to see the black-haired girl and brown-haired boy sitting no more than six tables away. As soon as her eyes land on them, however, the couple duck behind their menus in the most obvious fashion.

"Didn't that guy seem awfully familiar to you?" Marinette asks. "I feel like I've seen him before. But it can't be… I'd remember someone with two different colored eyes. Heterochromia isn't exactly common."

"Maybe you're thinking of an actor?" Luka asks.

"Probably," Marinette laughs. "Well, enough about that. How did you manage to get us a reservation _here_?"

For dinner, Luka surprised Marinette by taking her to one of the most popular restaurants in Paris, Captain Hardrock's. The restaurant itself is a cruise boat that travels along the Seine, known for their fresh seafood, live bands onstage, and exceptional customer service. Due to its popularity, it's nearly _impossible_ to get a reservation—oftentimes, people would have to book a reservation at least a month in advance.

"My family owns it," Luka answers simply, making his date's jaw drop. He then points over to a familiar purple-haired girl taking orders. "That's my sister right there. She usually works here on days off. And my mom works in the back as Head Chef."

"Juleka? The assistant receptionist at Agreste Fashion?" Marinette asks.

"That's right. Good eye," Luka says. "She's an aspiring model. I really hope she gets noticed and given the chance to model even just once."

"She's really pretty, I'm sure she will soon," Marinette smiles.

As soon as her sentence ends, a waiter with the nametag "Ivan" walks over to their table and sets down their orders.

"Enjoy your meal," he says in the softest voice he can muster (which was actually be quite a challenge due to his naturally deep and aggressive tone). "Would you be interested in a dessert tonight?"

"I would," Marinette grins up at him. "Would it be possible for me to see a dessert menu—?"

"We'll have the Captain's Chocolate Mousse," Luka interrupts. "To share, please."

With a nod, Ivan tells them to enjoy their meal one last time, then leaves the two to their dinner.

"Sorry for cutting you off there," Luka apologizes. "But you've _got_ to try my mom's famous mousse. It's to die for."

"Let me guess," Marinette starts with a smirk, cutting into her halibut. "It'll come shaped as a heart, with sliced strawberries shaped as hearts, and you're going to feed it to me while I stare at you with twinkling eyes?"

Luka places a hand over his chest. "Shoot, you got me," he plays along. "I knew I should've gone for the crème brûlée instead. You'd have been thrilled to find a ring in there after breaking the top."

"Wow, Luka, is this how you get girls to fall in love with you?" she asks with fake shock. "Promise them unlimited _aesthetic_ pictures to post on their social media accounts, lure them in with decadent chocolate desserts, and shower them with expensive jewelry?"

"_And_ I've got another place I want to take you to before I walk you home," he says.

"Ending the date with a romantic walk under the moonlight," Marinette hums. "You've really outdone yourself tonight."

"All according to plan," Luka smirks. "Trust me, you'll fall for me soon enough."

Marinette laughs.

She can't stop thinking about how comfortable she feels around Luka, and how easy it is to talk to him. She learns that he knows how to play the guitar, and he cringes as he tells her about his awkward teen years, where he'd let his guitar do the talking for him. He picked up photography early on in childhood; one day, while looking through old photo albums with him mom and sister, he realized that his mom was never in them because she was always the one taking them. He wanted her to be in the pictures as well, so he started studying her fancy camera, eventually developing a passion for taking pictures of everything. He ended up graduating in Photography, and he was hired on the spot when Gabriel Agreste came across his pictures at an Arts Festival. His favorite color is teal, his hair is naturally black, he'd study Culinary if he hadn't decided on Photography, and he makes a mean batch of crepes.

Marinette sighs dreamily.

She couldn't have found a more perfect boy.

* * *

Six tables away, Adrien continues to steal glances at Luka and Marinette, while Chloe eats away at her grilled octopus without a single care in the world.

"Pretty sure they know you're staring," Chloe says as she looks through the menu some more. "Are you _sure_ you don't want any? This octopus is life-changing."

"I'm good," Adrien says. "My main course is probably on its way already anyway."

"Suit yourself," Chloe shrugs.

Adrien shifts his eye over to Marinette once more, frowning at how lively and talkative she is while with Luka. She's opened up a lot more to Adrien after they decided to become friends, but he can't help but feel a little sad to see how _different_ she actually is around him. He's usually the one to start conversations, to knock on her door, to ask her if she's busy.

His frown deepens.

One-sided relationships really do hurt more than people say.

This last thought suddenly makes his eyes widen, wiling himself to look back at the girl sitting before him. He's been treating Chloe the exact same way Marinette does him. Did he even have the right to complain about it when he hasn't been the greatest friend himself?

He fixes his posture and pulls his chair closer to the table, shifting his full attention on Chloe instead. He should give her some attention as well, if not more; it's been years since they've gone out together, after all.

"I really appreciate you coming along with me tonight, Chloe," he smiles.

"I know you do," she answers sassily, albeit with a smile.

"How did you manage to get us a reservation?" Adrien asks, making Chloe freeze. "I heard it's really hard to get one without booking weeks in advance."

Her fork stops halfway through to her mouth, the piece of octopus slipping out of its grasp and pathetically falling back onto her plate. She takes a glance at the waiter with the nametag "Kim" on it, who winks once he realizes she's looking in his direction.

Kim's an old classmate of hers from lycée, and she recalls his continuous and often embarrassing attempts at asking her out. Mean as it sounds, she used her old "I'll give you my number if you can get me a reservation _now_" at the door, which unsurprisingly worked on him.

"I have… connections…" Chloe says with a shudder.

Their waitress, Juleka, returns and sets their food down on the table, politely telling them to enjoy their meal before leaving to serve another table.

"You know, I'm surprised you agreed to eat here," Adrien confesses.

"This is the first time you asked me out on a kind-of-date, I wasn't going to let it pass me by," Chloe answers honestly. "Besides, my dad only ever gets me sushi when I ask for seafood. This is a nice change. Plus, that octopus was fantastic."

"Was it really?" Adrien asks.

Chloe nods enthusiastically. "Good enough for me to consider eating here again," she says. "Which is a pretty big thing."

"Then, I'll take you here again," he offers, making her look up in surprise.

Chloe wants to believe him, she really does, but deep down, she knows that it won't happen. She doesn't express this, however, and instead just plays along.

"I'll be looking forward to it," she says with a forced smile.

* * *

"Chloe, we lost them because you took too long in the washroom," Adrien says as they search through the streets of Paris.

Not only is it much harder to see at night, but with the streets always bustling with people, it's really easy to lose them in the crowd.

"I had to fix my wig and my makeup. Beauty takes time," Chloe replies. "Besides, your photographer has blue hair. It shouldn't be too hard to spot him."

Adrien and Chloe walk around looking through the windows of little shops and popular cafés in hopes of finding the couple again. But after half an hour of searching, Adrien is so ready to call it quits, until they reach the Pont des Arts bridge. Past the bridge and sitting over the edge of the water are Luka and Marinette, sharing a parfait put together by the famous André Glacé himself.

Adrien gestures for Chloe to follow him, and they walk across the little bridge to get a closer look at the couple. They stop walking after passing Luka and Marinette so that they can watch them from behind, but when Adrien sees Marinette laughing genuinely over something funny Luka said, he lets out a sigh.

"Let's go," Adrien tells Chloe.

"_Go_?" Chloe repeats in disbelief. "We spent more than half an hour trying to look for them, and now you want to _leave_?"

"The date's going well," Adrien says. "It's best we leave them alone now."

Adrien and Chloe continue walking along the path they were on as it would be too unnatural for them to walk past the bridge _again_, even if doing so would get them home a lot faster. They wouldn't want Luka and Marinette to see Felix and Bridgette a second time that same night. Then, it would've been _way_ too obvious.

"Are you walking me home?" Chloe asks, taking her phone out. "Or should I get someone to pick me up?"

"I'll walk you," Adrien smiles. "It's been a while since I've walked you home."

Chloe looks down, recalling their elementary school days and precious childhood memories. She recalls walking to school with Adrien in the mornings and walking back home with him in the afternoons, kicking her legs as she sat next to him while he practiced the piano, playing games with him because he always promised to always cheer her up whenever her mom left for New York. These moments all feel like they happened yesterday, but in reality, it's been years, and Adrien isn't as close to her as he used to be.

Somewhere along the way, Adrien started getting more and more distant. Chloe blames Kagami for it; she always has. But deep inside, she blames herself, too.

When her mom left for good, she created this whole new persona to hide how much it actually affected her. Overnight, she became someone he barely knew anymore. If she had known that doing so would make her slowly lose Adrien, she wouldn't have done it in the first place.

"Hey, Chloe?" Adrien suddenly says. Snapping out of her thoughts, Chloe turns her head to look up at the boy walking next to her. "What did you mean earlier about hating Marinette for taking me away from you?"

"Oh, that," Chloe says, internally cursing herself for even saying that. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"Tell me," Adrien pushes.

"I said, it's nothing," she pushes back.

"It doesn't sound like nothing to me. Come on, Chloe."

She sighs.

"Fine, I'll tell you," Chloe gives in, and Adrien can already hear the hesitance in her voice. "You and I… we've been friends since we were kids… haven't we?"

"We have," Adrien nods, urging for her to continue. "What about it?"

"Things just aren't the same anymore," she answers sadly, rubbing an arm. "I think of you as someone very special. It's just a bit sad that you clearly don't see me the same way."

"But I do," he says.

"No… it's clear you don't," she says quietly.

Chloe stops walking when she realizes they're standing in front of the Grand Hotel de Paris. She's just about to scream something along the lines of _just kidding!_ before bolting into her home, when Adrien suddenly pulls her in for a hug.

"I'm sorry for making you feel that way," Adrien says after letting go. "I really do think of you as someone special. You were my very first friend; nothing can change that."

"And I guess a friend is all I'll ever be, huh?" Chloe says with a sad smile. "Oh, well. I feel like I kind of always knew. Your loss."

"Of course," Adrien smiles.

Chloe turns away from him and walks through the doors of the Grand Hotel de Paris, pulling her wig off. She tosses it to Adrien, who effortlessly catches it, and says, "Give it to Alya when you see her. She did well with the black hair, but I think I make a _much_ better blonde."

"I couldn't agree more," Adrien says, watching her go.

Before stepping into the elevator, Chloe turns to wave and smile at him one last time. When the doors finally shut, Adrien starts walking in the direction of home…

…which quickly turns into a sprint when he realizes he should probably be home before Marinette.

* * *

It's nine-thirty in the evening when Marinette gets back from her date. Adrien hears her front door open and close, and a knock on the middle door comes shortly after.

"Come in!" Adrien exclaims, not turning away from the movie playing on his TV screen. He'd unlocked the door after getting home, fully knowing that she'd want to talk about her date upon getting home.

He hears the door open and shut, followed by footsteps making their way over to him. Marinette soon makes it over to the couch he's sitting on, and he politely greets her when she takes a seat next to him. He notes the dreamy look on her face and wills himself to smile for her.

"How was your date?" Adrien asks innocently.

"Everything went great," Marinette sighs dreamily. "Luka's such a gentleman. We went skating, ate dinner, had dessert. Did you know his family owns that popular seafood restaurant, Captain Hardrock's?"

"Wait, really?" Adrien asks, genuinely surprised by this information. "How's the food?"

"Fresh from the sea," Marinette hums. "Absolutely mouth-watering. And after that, we went to get ice cream from André's. You know, the ice cream cart on the Pont des Arts bridge?"

"The one where people say that if you share an ice cream with the person you like, you'll be destined to stay together?" Adrien laughs. "Do you actually believe in that stuff?"

"It makes it fun," Marinette laughs.

"Well, I'm glad to hear you had a good time," Adrien says.

It goes silent after that. Adrien and Marinette avert their eyes towards the television, neither of them paying attention to what's actually going on.

"I have a question, by the way," Marinette says, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Go for it," Adrien says, eyes glued to the screen.

"Who was the girl you were out with today?"

Adrien noticeably freezes.

"What do you mean?" he asks, refusing to face her. "Well, I _was_ having dinner at that fancy Italian restaurant, Befana, with some models. You probably just saw me with one of them."

"Are you sure you didn't go skating instead?" Marinette smirks. "And having dinner at Captain Hardrock's?"

"I don't even know how to skate. And I've never eaten at Captain Hardrock's, it's apparently nearly impossible to get a reservation," Adrien answers, growing increasingly nervous as the seconds tick by.

He continues to watch the movie, but it gets awkward when the credits start rolling down the screen; now, he doesn't have an excuse to avoid her gaze. Gulping nervously, he grabs the TV remote sitting on his coffee table and proceeds to flip through the channels to see if anything interesting is playing.

Unfortunately, there isn't.

He closes the television and tries to excuse himself.

"Well, it's been a long day, and I have this runway rehearsal tomorrow, so…" Adrien says, standing from the couch and stretches. His face, however, betrays him and expresses nervousness. "I'm going to head to bed."

"Oh, sure, no problem," Marinette says, standing up as well.

But before Adrien can even say "good night", Marinette bursts out laughing.

"I knew it was you," she says in-between laughs. "Luka had no clue, but I figured it out soon enough. The hair and eye colors almost fooled me though, not going to lie."

"How?" Adrien asks.

"I think I just got too used to your mannerisms," Marinette shrugs. "You did that thing you always do when you're embarrassed—you know, running your fingers through your hair? And when that girl pulled you away, you did that face you always do when you're uncomfortable."

"What face?"

Marinette proceeds to make a funny face, laughing immediately after.

"Okay, first of all, I do _not_ make that face," Adrien scowls. "And second of all, I already said I was at Befana with—"

She gives him a look.

"—Am I really that obvious?" Adrien shrinks. "I tried so hard to act cold and distant, too."

"It worked for Luka, but not for me," Marinette says. "Who was that girl though? Bridgette? She seemed oddly familiar."

"That was Chloe," Adrien grins sheepishly. "I convinced her to come with me."

"You did?" Marinette asks incredulously. Her surprised face soon turns into a smirk as she says, "Oh, I get it now."

"Wh-what?" Adrien stutters as she gets closer to him.

"You were worried about me, weren't you?" Marinette asks, laughing into her hand as Adrien pouts. "Is it because I spend most of my time with Luka now?"

"It's not that! Well… kind of," Adrien confesses, making award hand gestures as he tries to put words together. "I don't want to stop you from seeing him, and I'm honestly really happy for you—heck, I'm the one who got you two together in the first place—but it's just… it took us a while to be on friendly terms, and just when I thought we'd become good friends, you disappeared again. As much, if not more, than you did when you were avoiding me."

"I understand, Adrien. I'm sorry," Marinette apologizes. "How about I make it up to you? Let's go out for a day, just you and me."

"Really?" Adrien perks up.

"Really," she nods, grinning. "When's your next day off?"

"Um… Tuesday," he replies slowly.

"Tuesday it is," Marinette says, making her way towards the door to her suite. "Well, I don't need to tell you much about my date since you already know what happened. I'll go get ready for bed since we have a long day tomorrow as usual."

Adrien watches her walk away, not wanting to let her go just yet. He calls out her name before she can disappear behind the door, making her poke her head back into the room.

"Um, do you want to watch a movie with me before bed?" he asks, nodding over to his couch. "You don't have to, it's just a suggestion…"

Marinette smiles after a roll of her eyes. "What movie did you have in mind?" she asks, laughing when Adrien's face lights up.

She steps back into the room, gently shutting the door behind her. She makes her way over to the couch, falling backwards and plopping onto the cushions when Adrien takes his seat.

"There's this one movie I've been wanting to watch for a while. It's called _Miraculous Ladybug_," he says, turning the TV back on. "It's an animated movie, I heard it's pretty good. It has something to do with superheroes and a love square?"

"I'm a sucker for those, believe it or not," she laughs.

As Adrien looks for the movie, he says, "I like what you're wearing, by the way. You look nice in red."

"Thanks," Marinette smiles.

Adrien plays the movie, but halfway through, Marinette dozes off, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. Not wanting to accidentally wake her up, he doesn't move, eventually falling asleep with his head on hers as the movie credits roll down the screen.

* * *

**A/N:** If you're still reading this story, I'd like to say both thank you _and_ I'm sorry! ;A; My update schedule really isn't the best, so it means a lot to me if you're still here.

I hope you liked this chapter! Writing a jealous Adrien is always fun, though I do apologize for the lack of Adrinette this time around. But don't worry, the next chapter will be entirely dedicated to our favorite couple, as what was hinted in the last scene.

**Fun Fact 1**: Back when _Miraculous Ladybug_ was still going through tests and drafts, the company released a short anime teaser. Felix was what they were originally going to call Adrien. They hadn't revealed the name for Ladybug's civilian form, so until her name was officially revealed, fans decided to call her "Bridgette". Not too long after, the anime was scrapped and instead turned into the CGI-animated show we know today. I decided to add that nice little Easter Egg in there by making Adrien and Chloe use the names Felix and Bridgette, respectively.

**Fun Fact 2**: Chloe's design for "Bridgette" was loosely inspired by Zack Fair, my all-time favorite character in the entire _Final Fantasy_ series. Adrien's design for "Felix" was loosely inspired by Yuna, the female protagonist from my favorite game in the entire _Final Fantasy_ series, _Final Fantasy X_. It was a last-minute add-in when I realized that Adrien is _definitely_ the type to rub his eye and accidentally make his contact lens pop off. Yuna has one green eye and one blue; writing that part suddenly reminded me of her, so I went straight to re-designing their appearances. If you don't play _Final Fantasy_, I'm sorry I couldn't give you the best of that tidbit!

**Fun Fact 3**: Adrien rubbing his eye and accidentally popping his contact lens off actually happened to me. I still don't understand how it happened.

**Fun Fact 4**: The calendar and the whole idea about this story spanning over the course of one hundred days was inspired by the Korean drama _My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox_. I watched it about three years ago, and the ideas hit me the moment I got to Episode 5.

If you're reading this, I'm sending you love and safety during such hard times. Take care of yourselves.

Thank you for reading!


End file.
